DUBLIN CITY planners are to meet public representatives on proposals for a €65 million, mixed-use development based around a new Islamic cultural centre on the city’s northern fringe.
The council is currently considering a planning application which includes a large mosque, a 34 classroom school, conference centre, assembly hall, playground and swimming pool on the site in Clongriffin.
The development also includes a small number of apartments and retail units. It is backed by Gerry Gannon, whose Gannon Developments has funded the nearby Dart station and a range of public facilities in Clongriffin.
These include an internal street network, a 460-space park-and-ride facility, retail outlets, apartments and houses.
Local Labour Party TD Seán Kenny told The Irish Times he was not opposing the development but felt there were a number of issues which needed to be settled.
He said the inclusion in the plans for “only 192 car parking spaces is entirely inadequate for a 600 people capacity conference centre.”
He also said he failed to see why the application included retail units, including a crèche, bookshop and library, “when there is a vast amount of empty retail units nearby on Main Street.”
Mr Kenny said a meeting would be held on Tuesday week between public representatives and planners.
There was a large mosque in Clonskeagh which blended in well with the surroundings there. The new project could also blend in if it was integrated “with the existing retail, residential, and access footprint in Clongriffin”.
