GLASS BOTTLE CONSULTATIVE FORUM

BACKGROUND

• The Forum was set up by Dublin City Council in December 2024.
• It is a forum for the mutual exchange of information between stakeholders associated with the Irish Glass Bottle site. (City Council, Area Committee, Area Office, Local Community, Local Residents, Developer, etc.) 
• It provides a platform for local and stakeholder concerns to be discussed and resolved throughout all stages of the development.
• The Forum is chaired by Cllr Danny Byrne and attendees include representatives from Sean Moore Rd RA, the IGB Housing Action Group, SAMRA, the Developer, local Councillors and DCC Executives.
• 5 meetings have been held to date.

TOPICS INCLUDE

• Compliance with the SDZ Planning Approval.
• Updates on Housing from DCC including Social and Affordable allocations.
• Updates from the Developer including progress to date and next stages.
• Community issues and concerns.
• The provision of Public Transport to the site including the Luas.
• The re-design of Sean Moore Rd.

SOME SAMRA COMMENTS

• SAMRA has raised the issue of the integration of the development into the surrounding area.
• The Glass Bottle development will house ca 9,500 residents, on the doorstep of Irishtown, Ringsend and Sandymount, which combined have a population of ca 17,000. The commercial component of the development could employ somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people although it may be at the lower end of that range.
• The Developer is obliged to build the scheme in accordance with the Poolbeg SDZ Masterplan which was granted Planning Permission in 2019. As such, the extent of housing, commercial and associated services and facilities buildings, carparking and outdoor spaces has been pre-determined. As examples, there is provision for a site for a primary school, a health facility, and a pub. At this time, the Dept of Education have provided no indication as to when they will develop the school.
• SAMRA, supported by others, has requested that some form of study be carried out to establish if there are shortfalls in the development across social, economic, health, hospitality and other provisions, that might create both demand and opportunities in the surrounding areas. The study would also cover the community gains for the area from facilities to be provided within the development, such as the planned artist studio spaces.
• Dublin City Council are currently reviewing this request.
• SAMRA also requested clarity regarding the timeline for the provision of the Luas services to the development. The reply to the Chair of the Forum from the Minister for Transport on 1st Sept 2025 stated that the "development of a Luas red line extension to serve Poolbeg is currently one of the longer-term proposals in the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, for delivery from 2037-2042. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is the Sponsoring Agency for the proposed Luas to Poolbeg project and the NTA is the day-to-day Approving Authority".
• The Forum is currently challenging this timeline which is seen to be far too long.