r/ireland • u/Cute_Nobody_4647 • 1d ago
NIMBYs Everywhere Michael D Higgins and family raise concerns over plans for 39 new housing units near Galway home Spoiler
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/michael-d-higgins-and-family-raise-concerns-over-plans-for-39-new-housing-units-near-galway-home/a/162914129.html115
u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 1d ago
A good point is being made here that applies to most areas in the country. Houses are going up everywhere but infrastructure is not improving. Roads in towns around Ireland built with a fraction of the current population in mind are clogged with traffic 24/7 and public transport is packed to the brim and often times too full for people to get on. This is now becoming another major issue.
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u/OkMarionberry4407 1d ago
100% agree our village has trebled in size itself plus 3 new housing estates have gone up, village adjacant on top. Water and sewerage capacity have not increased. We constantly are without water in last 10 years
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u/aspublic 1d ago
Uisce Éireann estimates that a significant portion, roughly 38% to nearly 50%, of treated drinking water leaks before reaching consumer taps across the national network. So, it might be leaks and compound factors influencing your local water supply situation.
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u/SawyerCa 6h ago
Maybe.
There are quite a few leak detection teams sounding pipe networks across all counties.
They are generally very good at finding the leaks and marking them up.
The significant factor involved is the water treatment plants and the amount of storage that is available in reservoirs/towers for network supply.
There are a lot of areas that have less than 24 hours storage. This is primarily due to the amount of population growth. Factored in with the water source and problems that can arise - bore holes, rivers, lakes, etc. can result in significant production issues that take time to sort out. And if it takes more time than there is storage it results in an outage.
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u/dropthecoin 23h ago
In my area infrastructure is under way but that takes years by itself with planning, procurement and construction itself.
The only resolution to what you’re saying is that developments should be put on hold until conditions such as infrastructure are met. Which is reasonable.
When that happens, the government is wrong for not building the houses.
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u/hasseldub Dublin 23h ago
Or developers are paid to build the infrastructure along with the housing? Make it a package deal with the planning.
You can build this many houses in this field but you must build the local infrastructure to service that field. Here's the money to get that done. You can sell the houses when the infrastructure is signed off.
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u/dropthecoin 23h ago
It often is put in the package. But sometimes developers can or will negotiate these too based on their input too which further delays matters.
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u/CheraDukatZakalwe 1d ago
Yeah but if we built infrastructure we'd either have to force people to pay more taxes to pay for it, or cut something like social welfare spending.
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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 1d ago
Cutting spending should be the obvious option but we continue to spend more frivolously every year
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u/CheraDukatZakalwe 23h ago
Since the PDs disbanded, there is no political party which publicly declares that they want to cut spending. Tax cuts are popular, but they seemingly would rather cut their wrists before they'd cut spending. And the electorate would kill them in the next election.
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u/The_Fatal_eulogy 1d ago
The money is there, the government just can't be financially responsible at all. Look at all the millions that they have waste and things that have no long term gain like infrastructure would have,.
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u/CheraDukatZakalwe 1d ago
That claim is always easy to throw out there, but do you have specific examples, and are you willing to cause harm to the people who are reliant on that funding?
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u/The_Fatal_eulogy 23h ago
The bike shelter, the phone pockets in schools, that failed IT system, the unmanaged budget of a still unfinished Children's Hospital, pointless grants that have only driven prices up rather than helped and list goes on.
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u/PresentSupermarket53 20h ago
Well we are spending an extra 7billion next year just to run the country. Do you expect any improvement in service from that? Of course not, because they are literally just mindlessly pouring it into the public sector black hole.
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u/Ok_Read_4000 5h ago
Nonsense. Waste is always somewhere else isn't it friend..sure we all want pay rises for the public sector yesterday didn't we
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u/thelunatic 1d ago
Infrastructure is way better than 20-30 years ago relative to the population
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u/homecinemad 1d ago
You need to consider density and bottlenecks though. It's not a linear equation. As population centres grow outwards and upwards, and as people commute far more often for much longer distances, the connecting roads and tracks, the public transport, and the local amenities - all need to be boosted.
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u/hinogammykagura 1d ago
A lot more 2-3 car homes now though too, especially in urban areas. And it's always an uncomfortable conversation to have. Easy justification is the shite state of public transit. But often there's not much desire to have it improved if it means giving up the flexibilty/independence a car brings.
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u/Affectionate-Low-670 1d ago
We might be up in that 2 - 3+ car range because adult children can't move out of their parents houses.
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u/Melodic-Source2435 1d ago
I can see why rural areas might need 2 cars, but urban areas always puzzles me. We have two kids, two commutes, and one car in an urban area and its literally never an issue.
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u/hinogammykagura 1d ago
I think it's more of a mental blockage carried over from the celtic tiger.
To be fair, a quick Google says the majority of Irish homes are 1 car. But over 20% of families have 2 or more cars. With about 60-70% of people living in urban areas those numbers work out.
But anecdotally I definitely know of a lot of multicar homes that likely don't need to be multicar homes.
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u/ZealousidealFloor2 22h ago
I’m surprised by that given the majority of households I know are two cars plus but I know that’s only anecdotal.
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u/UnknownXIV 5m ago
Pretty kuch my entire town is double cars at a min currently. And there isnt any room to park the cars.
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u/AdBoring9620 1d ago
Can't see forty units in this case adding any great traffic to the area.
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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 1d ago
It adds to the cumulative effect. Every house built is straining local infrastructure. It’s awful planning to not improve infrastructure as population grows.
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u/AdBoring9620 1d ago
Not really possible to widen an urban road. Houses have to go somewhere.
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u/hinogammykagura 1d ago
Infrastructure includes public transit, satellite parking, safe bike lanes etc.
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u/Table_Shim 1d ago
First of all, that's nonsense. The massive increase in housing on Letteragh Road and the sheer volume of cars coming in the N59 in the morning, those tiny junctions either side of circular road cannot handle much more traffic at peak times.
39 houses, likely 80 cars.
Then add in all the other housing soon the be proposed for that area.
And then you haven't even begun to discuss pedestrian and cyclist safety.
Good area for future housing, road needs attention.
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u/wascallywabbit666 Hanging from the jacks roof, bat style 1d ago
Well that's just a broader issue with Galway since 2000 or so. The city is wrecked with cars.
But is the solution to stop building houses? No
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u/Table_Shim 23h ago
You can keep building houses as long as you're aware of the road and active travel restrictions and are building in a way that leaves space for road expansion.
Or you're conditioning the permission to deliver the road extension as part of the houses (e.g. a footpath to Letteragh Road).
Or you're ready to start the road upgrade when the houses are delivered.
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u/hinogammykagura 1d ago
For Galway especially only buses, taxis and deliveries should be allowed anywhere near the city center. The city isn't capable of holding much more on the streets and to make any changes to increase the capacity would destroy the whole atmosphere of the city.
Need satellite parking and better buses
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u/wascallywabbit666 Hanging from the jacks roof, bat style 23h ago
Need satellite parking and better buses
And a lot more active travel. And remove all unnecessary parking from the city centre.
I used to live in the north of the city, Newcastle area. My housemate worked on Shop Street. She used to drive to the cathedral, park all day and walk the last bit. It was such an unnecessary journey, but she was just so fixated on driving.
There must be thousands of people like her making thousands of unnecessary journeys. Active travel is also really important to get kids walking and cycling to school
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u/struggling_farmer 22h ago
I went to college down there and used to live out in newcastle, that journeys is 10 minutes on bike.
Lad i work with was telling me that his son is in college in Galway and renting a house out near Cappagh Park and getting bus in & out. says very good bus service on western distributor.
i think an element of the car centric mind set is generational. but active travel only works within the town/ city area, given the level of comutting from the hinterland, more park & rides and good bus services serving them could eleviate traffic in the city.
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u/hasseldub Dublin 21h ago
A lot of the problem I see with park and ride is cost.
I have a car, I have to pay for, I then have to pay for parking and also public transport.
I have a cheap/free parking spot at work, meaning I only pay for my car instead of car/parking/bus.
The solution needs to be cost effective for people too. Simply adding cost upon cost with no improvement to poor services will just negatively impact quality of life for people.
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u/struggling_farmer 20h ago
Oh absolutely it needs to be cost effective, couple of euro a day parking. And needs to be coupled with bus priority lanes etc buy If it reduces traffic in the city, it being breakeven or a small subsidisation would be worth it.
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u/hinogammykagura 19h ago
Honestly, the parking should be free if you're paying for transit. And even on transit, those systems shouldnt have to cover their own costs, it should be a public service. There's significant benefits it would bring, even to those not using it. Health, emissions, the mental fatigue of congested driving.
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u/wascallywabbit666 Hanging from the jacks roof, bat style 19h ago
I have a cheap/free parking spot at work, meaning I only pay for my car instead of car/parking/bus
But that's part of the issue. I've no issue with free parking in suburban industrial estates, but no-one should be getting free parking spaces in urban areas like Galway city centre. Car parks are a complete waste of space in prime urban land: there are much more useful ways that the business can be using that space.
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u/hasseldub Dublin 19h ago
You can't prevent driving if there's no alternative to driving though. Speaking from a Dublin perspective, rush hour public transport is at capacity.
Dublin Bus publicise that there's capacity available on buses but when you look at it, the capacity is between 10.00-15.00. We love hiding the facts in this country.
The trains are dangerously overloaded. You can't get on the Luas at some stops.
Cyclists get injured or have their bike stolen or have no changing facilities.
It's madness to look at restricting car use without addressing some or all of the above first.
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u/FunIntroduction2237 1d ago
If you were familiar with the area you’d know it’s been built up massively with new estates but still doesn’t have a bus route or even a footpath to most of them. The roads around the area are rural and can only fit one car in most spots. GCC are bloody useless and it should be part of the planning approval to get the necessary infrastructure in place
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u/GhostsOfTheRobotTree 1d ago
80+ cars making back and forth journeys every day is significant especially for areas like this.
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u/AdBoring9620 1d ago
Nah,most households have a single car at best. In a rural area two might be needed.
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u/hasseldub Dublin 23h ago
Do you live in the 1950s?
It's two per household at a minimum on my road. A small number do have one but plenty have 3+.
And we have better public transport than most.
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u/GhostsOfTheRobotTree 23h ago
This was true in the 00s, but not since the crash where it is increasing year on year.
As kids can't move away and houses for rent have 4+ people all needing a car and the lack of a functioning public transport system means you are incorrect.7
u/achasanai 1d ago
There are at least 2 cars per household where i am, sometimes 3 or 4 depending on how old the kids are. Parking is a nightmare and this is an estate with okay-ish driveways
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u/quondam47 Carlow 1d ago
I feel like the simple arithmetic of adult children living at hone at far higher levels than in the past and the resulting increase in cars isn’t considered often enough.
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u/Jesus_Phish 1d ago
My parents still live in the estate I grew up in out in Dublin 15. It's nearly impossible to drive through comfortably because there's so many cars parked, multiple per house like you've said. And most of those have gardens big enough to fit two cars into
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u/zeroconflicthere 10h ago
Letterkenny traffic is simply unreal because it badly needs a bridge diversion over the river swilly.
But sure to local politics the Harry Blaney bridge was built over Mulroy bay for a few tractors. Guess who it was named after..
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u/Ok_Read_4000 5h ago
Fuck off genuinely. I'm sure if some FG politician objected you'd be saying the same, yeah?
Always a reason to build housing somewhere else but not here
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u/halibfrisk 1d ago
There’s always an excuse not to build housing
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u/fedupofbrick Dublin Hasn't Been The Same Since Tony Gregory Died 1d ago
and this is a valid excuse
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u/halibfrisk 23h ago
Build more housing!
No! Not like that!
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u/FearTeas 23h ago
People don't realise that most of the reasons why housing doesn't get built is for valid excuses. The issue is that we can have meticulously planned housing and infrastructure or we can build houses quicky, but not both.
Also, there's a touch of raging against NIMBY politicians, unless of course they're politicians one supports. Then their complaints are totally valid.
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u/dropthecoin 23h ago
The responses here in this thread shows the duality of this sub. Selective nuance to view the situation.
Michael D. Is raising a concern about the development because of the requirement of local infrastructure. This is one of example of tonnes happening all over the country which results in projected housing targets not being met in a year. And these types of observations, from what I’ve seen, see amendments to planning and such roads eventually get upgraded to meet the planning.
This happens all the time and it’s being called NIMBYism or unnecessary here.
If this was anyone else than Michael D this would be normally branded as NIMBYism here.
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u/whoopdedoo0 22h ago
Exactly.
There’s literal books being written about the gerontocracy blocking housing being built around the world, through NIMBYism. And Michael D is one of them.
If the younger generations continue to put up with this, it will be to their own detriment.
Infrastructure in Ireland has never been great. But it will slow down housing being built to an insane level, if every bit of the infrastructure has to be built around it first.
The older generations had some of the best opportunities to build wealth and there’s the highest number of elderly people there has ever been, living the longest they ever have in history.
Their over-representation in whether houses get built or not, is going to leave younger generations perpetually unable to buy a house, some won’t be able to find a place to rent and others will be left destitute.
It’s likely that a lot of people that this sub, that say “Oh well, all the infrastructure should be before the housing”, either own a house, have enough money that they’re not worried, or will have some form of help from family in the future when buying a place.
Because if you support the view that all the infrastructure needs to be built before any housing gets built, and you don’t have a place of your own right now or you’ve no prospect of getting a place any time soon, well then you’re just the turkey voting for Christmas.
In Ireland, right now, it’s taking an age to get adequate numbers of housing built. The houses need to get built, and figure the rest out as it goes.
Otherwise no shovels will hit the ground at all, and we’ll be paralysed in inaction.
And the younger generations will pay the price.
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u/dropthecoin 21h ago
So what’s your plan? Just build homes without the road, transport access? Go without the suitable water or waste water infrastructure? Or electricity?
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u/whoopdedoo0 21h ago
What’s your plan?
Make house building rates even slower than they are now? Leave younger generations with nowhere to live and build a life? Leave other people destitute?
Those houses that Michael D objected to, they won’t be without electricity, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to sell the houses and there would be no incentive for developers to build them in the first place.
Even if the infrastructure around it isn’t perfect by the time they’re built, they still need to be built. People need a roof to live under.
You can’t build every single bit of infrastructure around every single estate before it gets built, if that was constantly perfected preemptively in anticipation of every housing estate, they’d never get built. Part of the infrastructure will need to built at the same time that the houses are going up.
I haven’t seen a single data centre blocked yet, even though they’re known to raise the price of electricity for everyone else. But somehow, people become militant about blocking new housing estates.
As I said before, people in this sub who are sorted for housing already or in the near future, are the ones trying to justify blocking housing being built.
And anyone who is justifying blocking housing in these scenarios who doesn’t already have a home of their own or no prospect of one any time soon, is just another turkey voting for Christmas.
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u/dropthecoin 21h ago
My plan would be to follow the planning requirements on a case by case scenario, and make a determination on each case.
Which is the current scenario.
If you don’t believe the likes of infrastructure development and regulations and requirements don’t need to be followed, and clearly you would like to have blanket approvals that wouldn’t like the likes of infrastructure to hold up developments, what would it look like?
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u/whoopdedoo0 21h ago
Where did I say I don’t believe in infrastructure development and regulations?
I never said that.
I said the older generations objections are being over-represented through blocking housing estates being built and NIMBYism. A lot of the time they are the very reason both housing and infrastructure are blocked in this country.
If you want to complain about lack of infrastructure in this country, then you also need to look at the older generations blocking it that too. They are often the source of both problems.
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u/dropthecoin 21h ago
You’re not against infrastructure and regulations but you’ve made it fairly clear that they shouldn’t be conditional to stop houses being built.
If you do believe it’s reasonable that there should be checks and balances to ensure infrastructure conditions are met for the building of homes, then you’re in agreement with the current setup.Again, what do you want to see happen here?
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u/carlitobrigantehf Connacht 17h ago
So you're happy with Galway traffic? Happy with unsafe roads and deaths?
You know, developers could include infrastructure in their development plans
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u/Ecstatic_Refuse_7207 8h ago
Any politician stoping housing is not a good look. Particularly one who said more housing... some can't but help see thst this is a problem
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u/Banania2020 Resting In my Account 1d ago
Quick Summary
Former President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and members of his family (his wife, Sabina, and their three sons, John, Daniel, and Michael) have submitted formal observations to Galway City Council regarding a planning application for 39 residential units on Circular Road.
Key Facts:
- Proposed Development: Kenny Developments Galway Ltd applied in June for permission to build 39 housing units (a mix of apartments and houses) on Circular Road. Galway City Council requested further information in August.
- Primary Concern: Mr. Higgins and local residents argue that Circular Road and nearby Letteragh Road lack essential infrastructure—such as continuous footpaths, cycle lanes, traffic management, and public transit options—making the narrow roads unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.
- Traffic & Safety Factors: The submission notes high vehicle speeds near a local school and the role of navigation apps in diverting traffic onto Circular Road as a shortcut ("rat run").
- Policy Position: Mr. Higgins states that housing development and road safety are not mutually exclusive, urging the Council to prioritise infrastructure and safety alongside residential planning.
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u/MyAltPoetryAccount Cork bai 1d ago
NIMBYism at its finest
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u/Table_Shim 1d ago
He's not objecting to the houses, he's asking for a road upgrade. Completely fair considering that part of the road.
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u/SeaweedBasic290 1d ago
Bullshit. Like everyone in the country he's fully entitled to object to building near him. Those that use the term nimby are saying it's only their opinion that counts and those effected by bad planning decisions shouldn't have a say.
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u/Efficient-Umpire9784 1d ago
"Entitled to object", you have the legal right to object but it doesn't absolve you from your actions, which is to put your lesser needs above those looking for a home. A very modern Irish definition of Entitled.
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u/Massive-Wolverine571 1d ago
How many times did he talk about the housing crisis? It is nimbyism and hypocrisy
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u/quondam47 Carlow 1d ago
A lot of ink was wasted criticising Michael D back in 2022 for overstepping his constitutional boundaries when he made a speech criticising government housing policy.
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u/cassi1121 1d ago
The housing crisis can't be solved by throwing up houses willy nilly. They need proper infrastructure and resources. Hes absolutely right to object, more people should to force proper planning and development. Theres towns across the country with swathes of new houses but no accessible paths, shit roads, no bus services, water pipes under massive pressure and no facilties.
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u/Massive-Wolverine571 1d ago
The Michael D glazing in this sub is ridiculous.
How do you know there was no proper planning conducted?
Would you rather forty more houses are thrown up separately across the countryside then?
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u/cassi1121 1d ago
You did read what I said did you?
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u/CriticalSausageRole 1d ago
Yeah, it's indistinguishable from Fine Gael talking points and it's nonsense when they say it, too.
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u/cassi1121 20h ago
So building housing without proper facilities, infrastructure and resources is nonsense?
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u/CriticalSausageRole 20h ago
What's "proper infrastructure and resources"? What town, village or city in the country has residents who could not put their hand up and say they lack "proper infrastructure" and be vaguely correct?
It's intentionally vague weaponsation of a nebulous term and standard that's not enforceable on any local planning board. Today it's the road (even though these people manage to drive on them every day), tomorrow it's schools, then it's water, then it's bike lanes.
Real life isn't Sim City, you build and improve infrastructure after the people come, the other way around is incredibly impractical and expensive.
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u/cassi1121 20h ago
If every town around the country can be even vaguely correct about lacking infrastructure then the "build it and they will come" isnt working.
Daily we hear of traffic back ups, electric outages, burst water pipes, unsafe roads. I dont think forfitting what can easily enough be solved with some cross planning and joined up thinking is going to help in a housing crisis at all. All were doing is moving from one crisis to another.
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u/fin10g 1d ago
This is really disappointing NIMBYism. I saw elsewhere that it's due to the road being unable to handle more traffic, but the south circular road is hardly a bóithrín. In comparison they've added hundreds of units to the south circular road despite it deteriorating into a single lane where you have to pull in, but people get by. Is it possible to oppose the objection with an endorsement?
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u/hinogammykagura 1d ago
I wouldn't write off the benefits of many people endorsing or objecting. Best case is further traffic analysis. Best long term solution would be major support to public transit improvements. But the pressure data centers place on the electric grid also make implementing better trains/trams more difficult
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u/AdBoring9620 1d ago
Houses for thee,not for me.
https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/0614/1304804-president-housing/
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u/burn-eyed Sligo 1d ago
Oh not wee miggledy, he would never do such a thing!
Imagine if any of the gov party leaders did this.
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u/wascallywabbit666 Hanging from the jacks roof, bat style 1d ago
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u/downmexicoway 16h ago
Why does everyone keep citing traffic as an excuse for Nimbyism as though 9/10 jobs couldn’t easily be done from home if employers would cop on
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u/CheraDukatZakalwe 1d ago
Mickey D is right for once, but the reason why this is acceptable is that the one thing people hate more than houses built where there isn't infrastructure is for houses to be built where there is infrastructure.
There are a good few detached and semi-Ds that could and should be bought and knocked within 2km of eyre square and apartments put on them, and likewise a lot of the 3-4 storey buildings closer than that should have the same done.
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u/yewEngine 1d ago
Michael D Higgins is more than happy to see all the immigration as long as other areas expand.
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u/qwerty_1965 1d ago
Will his saintly aura be interfered with?
Joking
Another of hundreds of examples of housing coming before supporting infrastructure. Every last urban settlement has this, which is why we can't afford to wait for it ironically and unfortunately.
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u/Caabb 1d ago
He’s not objecting, he wants the road the houses are on improved prior to building to make it safer. Should be a pretty straightforward concern to address. Put the pitchforks down.