PUBLIC TRANSPORT

All Photographs Supplied By William Murphy

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ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GOOGLE BUILDING ON GRAND CANAL STREET

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DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 14

Google employees will be able to cycle to and from work as there is a DublinBikes docking station across the street from their workplace.

I have not visited this area for a few years and today I was surprised to discover that the Treasury Building is currently a construction site.

When I returned from California in the 1980s I lived at the corner of Eblana Villas and Lower Grand Canal Street and at the time the building was the Hertz HQ in Ireland. There were three apartments but mine was the only one that was occupied. I think that the building is now named Wentworth House and it may have been home to a language college. I was offered all three apartments at a very good price but decided against buying as there was serious anti-social activity in the immediate area.

Google bought the Treasury Building from Ronan Group Real Estate for €120 million in early 2020 to further expand their Silicon Docks campus which is nearby. In February 2022 Dublin City Council granted planning permission to Google Ireland to increase the height of the building from six to eight storeys.

The Treasury Building was the headquarters of the Irish government’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) for many years. Redeveloped by Ronan Group, the Treasury Building was described as a landmark six-storey Grade A office building that previously housed Boland’s Bakery. This historic building was occupied by Éamon de Valera, later President of Ireland, during the 1916 Easter Rising.

Following its purchase in 1984, a major redevelopment saw the building stripped back to its concrete framed structure and reimagined for a new commercial future with the first 20,000 sq ft floorplates ever delivered in the Irish market.

Rowan Gillespie was commissioned to create a sculpture for the outside wall of the building. The statue, named ‘Aspiration’, was originally of a naked man climbing the outside wall, but Johnny Ronan insisted that the sculpture be changed to a woman. The statue was made of fibreglass. The sculpture was removed in 2020 when the building was sold.

CHARLEMONT LUAS TRAM STOP AND BRIDGE ACROSS THE GRAND CANAL AND NEARBY

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11 FEBRUARY 2024

At the tram stop there is a memorial plaque indicating that the bridge across the canal was dedicated to Professor Simon H Perry.

Professor Simon Herbert Perry, who died on March 15th aged 61, was professor of civil engineering, head of the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (TCD). He was also dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Systems Sciences at TCD from 1990-1996.

One of his particular interests was his crusade for light rail transit (LRT) in Dublin.

Charlemont is a stop on the Luas light-rail tram system in Dublin, Ireland. It opened in 2004 as a stop on the Green Line from St Stephen’s Green to Sandyford. It provides access to the Portobello area.

The platforms of Charlemont are located on a steel and concrete beam bridge which crosses the Grand Canal. The waiting shelters are located directly above the canal itself. The advantage of this layout is that the stop can be accessed from either side of the canal: on the south side, a staircase and lift lead from the Grand Parade to the northbound platform. On the north side, staircases lead from each of the platforms to Charlemont Place, but this end does not have step free access. Since the Luas does not have ticket barriers, the bridge can also be used by pedestrians to cross the canal. The bridge has been dedicated to Professor Simon H. Perry, a civil engineer who lead the campaign for a light railway in Dublin. The arrangement of a station on a bridge over water has since been implemented on a much larger scale at London Blackfriars station.

To the south of Charlemont, trams continue south on a viaduct built for the Harcourt Street railway line which ran along this alignment from 1854 to 1958. To the north, trams cross Charlemont Place and descend a ramp, continuing through the city centre on the streets. Trams generally run every 5–10 minutes. Northbound trams terminate at Parnell or continue to Broombridge. Southbound trams terminate at Sandyford or continue to Brides Glen.

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 03 AT BOLTON STREET COLLEGE

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THE SUNLIGHT WAS INTENSE TODAY

As I walked along Capel Street towards I was blinded by the sunlight.

When I returned home I was a bit exhausted a somewhat lazy so decided to ask Google’s AI known as Bard [name changed to Gemini a few days ago] about Dublinbikes and after a number of attempts to get accurate information I eventually get the following: “I apologize, I made a mistake in my previous information about Dublinbikes. You are correct, there are not 600 docking stations. As of today, February 12, 2024, there are actually 115 Dublinbikes docking stations operating in the city. My information was outdated and I appreciate you pointing out the error. Is there anything else you’d like to know about Dublinbikes? I’d be happy to provide accurate and up-to-date information.”

Google explained the reasons for the name change as follows: ” “For us, Gemini is our approach overall in terms of how we are building our most capable and safe AI model and Bard was the most direct way that people could interact with our models so it really made sense to just evolve it to be Gemini because you are talking directly to the underlying Gemini model when you use it.” Does this actually explain anything?

CONNOLLY TRAIN STATION [REF-226008-1]

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DECEMBER 2023

Connolly Station, also known as Dublin Connolly, is the busiest railway station in Ireland, serving as a vital hub for both domestic and international travel [is a train every two hours to Belfast international travel?]. Situated in the heart of Dublin city centre, the station is a bustling gateway to Ireland’s rich history, culture, and natural beauty.

MY FIRST DAY WITHOUT THE 17 BUS SERVICE REF-225557-1

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WALK FROM S4 BUS STOP IN UCD TO ROEBUCK ROAD

As already mentioned I visit my mother, 104 in May, every Tuesday and Saturday and this means that I need to travel to Roebuck Road in Clonskeagh. For the last two years I have travelled to Windy Arbour by tram and the by bus (17 route) to Roebuck Road. Yesterday the 17 route was discontinued which complicate my life to a certain degree.

Before I begin to complain I should mention that the 17 was a very unreliable and that I frequently walked from Windy Arbour and Roebuck Road.

Anyway, today, I travelled by tram to Milltown and used the new bus stop to catch the S4 to UCD but I it took me another 15 minutes to walk to my final destination. As the S4 passes along Bird Avenue it might have made more sense to get of at the Clonskeagh end. I got off the first stop at the University Campus but I suspect that the second stop might be closer to Roebuck road. For my return journey I went to the Bird Avenue stop but the first bus was an 11 which travels direct to the city centre. In general, based on experience, I avoid the 11 as it is infrequent, often full and very slow as it gets stuck in traffic.

The introduction of these new routes is being promoted as a major improvement for south Dublin residents, but there’s a downside for certain commuters, as bus services 18, 17/d, 61, 75/a, 76/a, and 175 will came to a halt on November 26.

According to TFI, the specific details of the new routes are as follows:

  • The S4 will travel from Liffey Valley Shopping Centre to Ballyfermot, Crumlin Hospital, Terenure, and conclude at UCD.
  • The S2 will link Heuston Station with St James’s Hospital, Rathmines, Sandymount, the RDS, and Poolbeg.
  • The S6 will connect Tallaght with Rathfarnham Shopping Centre, UCD and Blackrock Station.
  • The S8 will establish a connection between Dun Laoghaire, Sandyford Luas, Tallaght and Citywest.
  • The 74 route serves Dundrum Luas, Marlay Park, the Coombe Hospital and Eden Quay.
  • The L25 will form a link between Dundrum Luas, Stillorgan, and Dún Laoghaire.
  • The L55 will connect Palmerstown Village, Ballyfermot and Chapelizod.
  • Route W2 will link Tallaght, Newlands Cross and Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.

Buses from the S and W series are anticipated to run frequently, ranging from every 10-20 minutes during peak hours, with the S8 operating every 30 minutes on weekends.
On weekdays, the L25 runs every 15 minutes, and the L55 operates hourly. The 74 route is scheduled to run every 30 minutes on both weekdays and weekends.