Ray Cunningham

The public consultation on phase 3 of Cherry Orchard Point is starting, with a drop-in clinic in the Cherry Orchard Community Centre on Monday 8th, from 4-7pm. Go along to take a look at the plans, or see them on the LDA website (link in my profile).

Great news! The Active Travel team have started on the design for the greenway through Lansdowne Valley - work could start early next year. That would reopen the closed section, and allow people to walk or cycle through the park between Walkinstown and Inchicore.

The Bank Holiday weekend is traditionally a time for gardening. But not everything needs to be neat and tidy. Leave a messy space for nature.

The public consultation on the Chapelizod bike lane has closed, and a report will be out over the summer addressing the submissions. The EU Presidency means work can't start this year, but the plan is to tender for the works this year, and start early in 2027.

Today is #MakeWayDay A day to realise that when we block footpaths, it makes it difficult for people with disabilities to get around their neighbourhood. @disabilityfed.bsky.social

The climate and biodiversity crises remain the greatest threat to our society... but most politicians seem to think they are no longer important. Not all problems are environmental problems - but they all present a choice between a short-term fix and a sustainable solution.

The campaign to elect @janetphorner.bsky.social has been brilliant, because she's such an inspiring candidate. Make a difference with your vote on Friday, and vote Janet number one!

Every year, for national biodiversity week, @dublincycling.bsky.social go on a tour of the Dublin community gardens. I could only join them for the first stop this year, at Stillgarden Distillery in Inchicore and the Stillgarden community garden

The government passed a law this week that will allow them to exempt infrastructure projects from environmental considerations - gutting the Climate Act. So why did the Social Democrats support them?

On Monday, Dublin City council debated the Camden Yard project (and implicitly, the move from Wood Quay), but we were discussing a decision that had already been made.

The Climate and Society conference in DCU today shows that people still want us to live a better life, that protects the planet we depend on. The government doesn't.

Hyper-local update! The section of path I requested in Walkinstown is being built!

The free trade elements of the CETA deal are already in place. So why does the government want to make Ireland subject to investor courts? We could be sued for making decisions that corporations don't like, as has happened to other countries before. Why sign up to that?

Short-term lets may have their place in the provision of tourist accommodation. But councils have to be able to regulate them - to decide when there are enough properties used for short-term lets, and we need more long-term accommodation. Voters can decide if councillors have the balance right.

Everyone agrees that turning unused space over shops into apartments is a good idea... but talking about it won't make it happen. It needs active engagement from local councils, backed by government.

A cup of tea and a chat with @janetphorner.bsky.social about childcare...

In a crisis, you act fast. But Fianna Fail and Fine Gael keep delaying regulations on short-term lets. Because the housing crisis is not a crisis for landlords.

When young people can't find places to live that are secure and affordable, it stops them from moving on with their lives. We need more cost rental housing, and more action on a housing market that is out of control.

Here we go again... #giveblood

Everyone should be able to benefit from cheap, clean, green, solar power. That's why the Green Party want to make balcony solar panels legal here (like they are in Germany), and give people on fuel allowance eight free solar panels. It's an investment in the future.

This is not a solution to the housing crisis. But it does show where this government's sympathies lie - with landlords, not with tenants.

The Droichead Orga development in Inchicore is finally under construction. 578 homes, a mix of cost-rental and council homes, in a great location. (Plus supermarket, other retail, and a community hub)

Free parking isn't free. People often ask why there aren't more parking spaces in new developments. It's because adding spaces would mean taking other things away, or driving up the cost of the housing.

There are new apartments, and a library, being built at the top of Rafters Road in Drimnagh. A quick update on their progress...

I spoke to Shane Coleman on Newstalk about the need to make HGVs safer on Dublin streets

No Farmers, No Food? We import most of what we eat in Ireland, and the tillage sector is at the point of collapse. Are we serious about food security, or will we become a country that produces only beef and dairy - and animal feed?

The perils of delayed posting... when I recorded this, the Healy-Raes were in government! But the question remains - will the government side with law-breaking landlords, or with people looking for a home?

The most dangerous vehicles on our streets are HGVs. In many vehicles, drivers simply cannot see pedestrians and cyclists around them. I passed a motion at Dublin City Council requiring Heavy Goods Vehicles to adhere to safety standards for driver field of vision.

We can't keep lurching from one fuel crisis to the next. The government needs to act, to break our dependence on fossil fuels.

When you're in a crisis, step one is to deal with the immediate effects. Step two is to stop it happening again. Let's break the cycle.

What happens to Wood Quay and Camden Yard? A lot of decisions have already been made - and not by elected representatives. This shows exactly why Dubliners need to be able to elect a mayor, with real power and real accountability.

Parks and green spaces make a huge difference to the city, so when we got a report from the Parks department recently, I had to celebrate them...

Should there be offices or apartments at Wood Quay? Or something else entirely?

Could the Camden yard site be used for apartments, instead of offices? Yes - but...

The government - and the Minister for Climate - can't decide that some things won't have an impact on the environment because that would make things easier for them. Our actions have consequences, even if Darragh O'Brien is more comfortable with his head in the sand.

The speed limit in built-up, residential areas like Chapelizod should be 30kmh. Sean Canney's greatest failing as Road Safety Minister - and there have been many - is that he abandoned plans to reduce speed limits at a national level.

When we build new homes, we shouldn't build new traffic jams. Roads aren't the solution - public transport is.

It might make financial sense to demolish Wood Quay. But what about the cost to the environment?

Renovate council offices or council housing?

Is Wood Quay so bad that the council need new or renovated offices?

The Camden Yard site is big and central. It also comes with planning permission and construction started. That's great, if we continue what was started...

I posted yesterday about Camden Yard and Wood quay and the proposed move. Only one part of this whole situation is definitely happening - everything else is still up for discussion...

You may have heard that the council is thinking of moving from Wood Quay to new offices on Kevin Street. I try to explain what's happening here - but it will take more videos to answer some of the big questions...

At last week's area committee meeting I (once more) asked about ways to make it safer for kids to get to school. We are making progress, but there's still a lot to do.

Final bit on Kylemore. This is a great opportunity, so let's get it right. That means holding developers to *our* plans, not allowing them to drop or change elements to save money, and it means central government holding up their end of the deal.

When we build more housing, as we are proposing to do in Kylemore, we need to provide schools for the children who will live there. Frustratingly, this is entirely out of our hands as councillors, and the Department of Education does not inspire confidence...

One of the main risks in the Kylemore project is that inadequate public transport provision would cause major traffic congestion, and send more cars down streets that couldn't cope. In the second part of my speech on Thursday, I talked about the need for Dart South West to be funded immediately...

The rezoning of lands at Kylemore took another step forward yesterday. I think this is a really important project - it needs to happen, and needs to be done right. I talked for so long about this I have to split it into a few videos, this is part one...

A quick update on some issues people have reported to me in Walkinstown...

These buildings on Merchants Quay are going to be renovated and turned into artist workshop and cultural spaces - essential to the life of the city

Over the next few years, a lot of the industrial and commercial spaces around the Kylemore road will be turned into housing. We need those homes, but we also need the schools, parks, shops, and public transport, that will make them working communities.

I've been out knocking on doors with the amazing @janetphorner.bsky.social I already knew how effective she is in the council chamber, and I've come to see how hard she works for her constituency. She would make a brilliant representative for Dublin Central!

Making our streets safer for walking makes it easier for young and old alike to be more active and independent.

Why would we expand our imports of fossil fuels, when we can see how war makes prices shoot up? Clean, green renewable energy is a better option - for energy independence, for the planet, and for our pockets.

More and more people are cycling regularly in Dublin. And people would like to cycle more - but they want to be safe, on cycle lanes that are separated from traffic.

Growing Good: Social Enterprise at the Heart of Food Systems, in Wood Quay on Wednesday

This month, Dynamic Drimnagh and Bloomin' Crumlin are both giving away bare-root trees for people to plant in their gardens. Bloomin' Crumlin are also running a tree-planting workhop. A great opportunity to make your neighbourhood a little greener!

Questions about housing at Monday's council meeting... We often talk about the importance of "pepper-potting" different tenancy types in a development, but it's much more important at the larger scale. So it's worrying that we are building only social housing in the North West area.

Christine Falls, by John Banville, is the One Dublin, One Book selection for 2026. He read from the first chapter yesterday in the Mansion House

The Taoiseach says that abandoning the triple lock will not impact neutrality, and will allow Ireland to act in support of international law. But why would we believe him? He ignores international law when that law is contrary to US foreign policy.

I'm often told that cycle lanes make roads more dangerous. They don't. They make drivers go slower - and that might annoy them, but it makes our roads safer.

The Kylemore masterplan has been updated following the public consultation, to clarify that new buildings beside existing homes will be at a similar scale. There are other issues that are still unclear, but we have to keep moving forward. We desperately need the homes.

I don't know if the problem is unwillingness, incompetence, or laziness, but the Minister for Road Safety has to take responsibility for the consequences of his inaction, and resign.

The planned Chapelizod cycle lane has some design problems - I've sent in comments, you should too - but they can be fixed, and open up some great places to cycle.

I asked the Parks department to plant some more trees on the green spaces in Walkinstown. It's been slow work because of the rain, but good progress made and more to come!

Are deep retrofits a good idea? We can quantify the cost of a project, the number of homes delivered, the time to delivery - but the carbon cost of demolishing instead of retrofitting isn't given a value. Until we have that, how can we decide?

Final site visit last week was to Oscar Traynor Woods. Greenfield site, over 800 homes, and a new park. But the best bit is, the first homes are ready, and people are moving in this week!

Last week on the Housing committee we visited Dorset Street, where an old flat complex was taken down and a new one is being built. 163 homes, and associated facilities, due to finish this year.

There's a new pedestrian crossing on Walkinstown Avenue between the shops and the park. I've been requesting this for years. It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference for people who need a safe crossing point.

One of the things we do on the council Housing committee is visit developments in progress, to get a better understanding of the building methods used, the challenges, and the progress. We visited three sites today, the first was Constitution Hill, a deep retrofit of three blocks of flats...

The government have watered down their plans again, this time to appease Michael Healy-Rae. We don't need a national policy on short-term lets, but we do need to give local authorities the ability to enforce planning regulations.

What we *need* is a Road Safety Authority that works on making our roads safer for everyone. What we *have* is an agency that is focused on driver and car testing, and a minister who doesn't see the problem.

A lot of people have asked me about getting a replacement bus shelter at the Ashleaf - people are standing in the rain with bags of shopping waiting for their bus. Good news today...

How do we really make cycling safer? It's not by making high-vis mandatory

Greyhound racing gets 20 million a year from the government - and wants more. They shouldn't get a penny.

The supervised injection facility on Merchants Quay is restoring some dignity to the lives of people going through addiction, and saving lives. The pilot has been successful. We need to expand the opening hours, open more centres, and support other forms of drug use. @pidgeondublin.bsky.social