Building a sustainable future for our community

Calling card

My Priorities:

Sustainable housing

We need sustainable solutions to Ireland’s housing crisis. The Council should be prioritising social housing, which is so badly needed. New builds must be ‘smart homes’ so as to conserve energy and reduce heating bills.

Protecting our environment

If we are to protect our natural environment and tackle climate change, we need strong action at local level. This means working with all County Councils for a joined-up, cohesive strategy that preserves this beautiful neighbourhood.

Better transport facilities and local amenities

Let’s invest in better amenities now, for all to enjoy in the future. I want to see safer cycle lanes and more attractive walking routes. After almost five years of closure, the reopening of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool is an absolute necessity.

1,500 scientists call for a repeal of the eighth amendment

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In the lead-up to the recent referendum campaign, I founded and convened the ‘Scientists for Yes’ campaign platform. During this time we received over 1,500 signatures from Ireland’s scientific community, calling for a repeal of the eighth amendment.

You can read our letter, published in the Irish Independent below.

Dear Editor,

We, the 1,200 undersigned individuals, write as a group of professional scientists and members of Ireland’s scientific community, but primarily as citizens or residents of Ireland, in support of the proposed repeal of the 8th amendment. We are committed to making our contribution to an evidence-based, rational, innovation-led society and we advocate that people undertake a careful examination of the legal, medical, and scientific evidence, including a critical assessment of the sources and probable veracity of any claims made, before deciding how they wish to vote.  We value the process of coming to an evidence-based decision. This process critiques the diverse range of evidence presented, where an open mind is balanced by a healthy degree of scepticism. In this regard we commend the Citizens’ Assembly and the Joint Oireachtas Committee, who undertook careful evidence-gathering exercises before delivering their reports. We commend also the politicians and members of civic society, who have honestly and openly acknowledged how they were compelled by the evidence and the personal testimony of many brave individuals to support a yes vote.  The 8th amendment was inserted on a wave of negative emotions; let it be washed away by a flood of reason, evidence and compassion.

Yours etc,

 

 

 

 

 

The full list of signatories can be found at: http://www.scientistsforyes.com

 

Abandoned Sandyford eyesore to be turned into offices with beds – from IrishTimes.com

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The landmark 14-storey Sentinel building in Sandyford, south Dublin, which has been left as an unfinished shell for a decade, is to be redeveloped as 300 “office suites” with sleeping facilities for workers.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has granted permission to Dante Property Company, owned by Galway-born brothers Luke and Brian Comer, to finish the tower block. Ten years ago, shortly before the economic crash, it was one of the tallest office buildings under construction in Dublin.

Each suite would measure 28sq m, which is 12sq m smaller than the minimum size of a studio apartment, and come with a kitchenette, bathroom and “overnight stay” facility.

The suites, the developers said, satisfy a demand for more flexibility in working hours especially for “those who work internationally, for example those working to an Asian or US work day timetable”.

Dante intends to retain the 14-storey skeleton of the building, which Cork developer John Fleming began building in 2007, and use the space for 294 office suites .

The Comer Brothers bought the Sentinel in 2011 for just €850,000. Five years earlier Mr Fleming’s company Tivway paid €245 million for an 11.3 acre site in Sandyford which was to have the tower as its centre piece.

Work began on the Sentinel in 2007, but the following year an examiner was appointed to the company and construction halted, leaving only the outer shell of the building completed. Following the rejection by the Supreme Court of a rescue plan for the company, Tivway eventually collapsed in 2010 owing banks more than €1 billion.

Local Green Party representative Eva Dowling said the building should have been completed long ago. “For the past decade, this unfinished, 14-storey building has overlooked estates all around the southside from Mount Merrion to Stepaside. It’s a daily reminder of the crash and of the fact that buildings are still lying vacant during a housing crisis,” she said.

Olivia Kelly, originally printed in Irish Times on Thursday 26th October: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/abandoned-sandyford-eyesore-to-be-turned-into-offices-with-beds-1.3269036

Hello

Hi there,

I’m Eva Elizabeth Dowling, and I’m the Green Party representative for Stillorgan local electoral ward, for Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

This covers Belfield,  Carrickmines, Clonskeagh, Deerpark, Foxrock, Kilmacud, Leopardstown, Merville, Milltown, Mount Merrion, Roebuck, and Stillorgan.

If you live in any of these areas, or if you have any questions at all, please do get in touch with me via any of the methods on the Contact page, and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for checking out my webpage, and have a great day.

– Eva Elizabeth