bike rental scheme, bikemi, cycling, Dublin, Environment, ff ard fheis, Green Party, Irish Times, italia, italy, jcdecaux, milan, milano, piazza del duomo, public transport, Urban environment
In Dublin, Environment, Europe, Fianna Fáil, Green Party, Urban environment on February 28, 2009 at 9:57 pm
BikeMi rank at Piazza del Duomo, Milan
Brian Cowen entered the conference hall of the FF Ard Fheis this evening to Arcade Fire’s ‘No Cars Go’. While our Taoiseach may not have seen the environmental message I have decided is contained therein it feels apt that a week ahead of the Green Party’s conference in Wexford (Eoin and Lenny will be down there for YellowRomanCandles) we check out how the Italians have established a bike rental scheme to complement its public transport system.
Before I try to explain how the scheme works I should probably explain how far the Italians, and the Milanese in particular, are ahead of us in the public transport stakes. Read the rest of this entry »
angel of the north, angel of the south, ebbsfleet, kent, largescale art installatrions, mark wallinger, public art, the guardian, turner prize, white horse
In Art, Environment, Urban environment on February 10, 2009 at 6:50 pm
In another week where Brian Dobson has nothing but bad news to report on Six One there is something happening across the water to smile about.
Turner Prize winning artist Mark Wallinger has won the £2 million commission to build the so-called ‘Angel of the South’ in North Kent.
Wallinger’s creation, a large white horse that will stand at 50m tall, will be pretty amazing to look at. It may not be the most orthodox of public art installations but how ridiculously fabulous will it be for people who live in the surrounding areas to wake up every morning and see a huge white horse dominating the landscape?
Residents are planning on protesting. I really hope they fail.
When Dobson finally asks the last person off the island to turn the light off I’m moving to Kent.
BBC, Carl O'Brien, Co Longford, County Longford, economist, Economy, Liam Reid, Longford, Longford town, Northern Rock, parish, Robert Peston, shoot the messenger, shopping centre, Sunday Tribune, The Irish Times, town councillor
In Economy, Environment, Media, Rural development on December 8, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hats off to Carl O’Brien for his insightful feature on the economic situation in my native county, Longford. Through talking to a wide cross section of the local community – politicians, traders, publicans, auctioneers, farmers, commuters, immigrants – he paints what I feel is a very accurate picture of what’s happening there.
A drive through most parishes reveals an empty or unfinished housing development, while recently built commercial/industrial units lie dormant on the outskirts of Longford town. In the town itself, the high number of vacant retail spaces is evident and on the Main St a brand new shopping centre lies empty with no anchor tenant. The county has experienced many problems with its water supply in recent years and, like everywhere else, the job situation is prompting young people to skip the country.
Growing up in Longford, I always felt that local establishment figures (namely politicians and local media) were always too sensitive to any coverage the county received in the national media. Read the rest of this entry »
