The most ambitious development plan in the history of the State, aimed at creating up to 40,000 jobs in Dublin's redundant docklands area over the next 15 years, was officially inaugurated yesterday by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey. With a price tag of £1.6 billion, the draft master plan issued by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) aims to secure the social, economic and physical regeneration of some 1,300 acres of land on both sides of the River Liffey stretching eastwards from Butt Bridge.
Temple Bar, which has been developed as Dublin's cultural quarter, occupies a land area of 23 acres. It is estimated that about 200 of the 1,300 acres of the docklands require redevelopment, including the contaminated Gas Company site at the Grand Canal Docks.
A targeted scheme of tax incentives is recommended in the plan to encourage schemes such as the "Dublin Technopole" - a cluster of high-tech and research-based industries - which has been earmarked for the southern side of the Poolbeg peninsula opposite Ringsend.
A central aim of the draft master plan is to transform the docklands area into a more environmentally friendly place to live and work, with new public parks proposed for the Royal Canal and the Poolbeg peninsula.
It is proposed to develop a new district shopping centre close to the Point Depot, to be known as "Point Village", as well as clusters of hotels and tourism-related facilities throughout the area.
Another of the DDDA's priorities is to develop the campshires - those narrow strips of land between the road and the river on both sides of the Liffey - as quayside promenades to "give them back to the people of Dublin", according to the authority's chairman, Mr Lar Bradshaw.
He said the draft plan had been developed in partnership with a wide range of interests, including community groups, business people, environmental and cultural organisations, statutory bodies, and training and development agencies, including FAS and Forfas.
"The commitment, passion, expertise and aspirations of these groups provided much of the impetus required to formulate what I believe is a dynamic, vibrant and workable development strategy to take Dublin's docklands into the next century and beyond," he declared.
Mr Bradshaw said redeveloping the docklands had the potential to contribute to the local economy, Dublin city and its environs, and "the nation as a whole", with partnership and consultation as the "watchwords" and "sustainable development" as a constant theme.
In his speech, the Minister said the most important of all the tasks facing the authority was the adoption of its master plan. "The plan must combine the necessary vision and a range of practical measures which will turn that vision into reality," he added.
The draft plan draws heavily on a major report by the Riverrun consortium of consultants - headed by Dublin architect Mr Sean O Laoire - which was published three months ago.
It goes on public exhibition from tomorrow for a period of four weeks.
