In Rathgar, councillors press for council to make good on promise to make park public

As the sun slowly set after 4pm on Friday, a pair of mothers brought their kids to a playground in the middle of a park just off the Orwell Road.

Traffic clogged the street outside its painted black fences, which forms part of the Marianella apartment complex, but inside the park was almost tranquil.

Some teenagers hung out on a long wooden bench next to a large sunken rectangular lawn.

A magpie hopped between a London plane and a lime tree, its rattling caw attracting others to drop in.

The gates were open. But it wasn’t clear whether it was a public park or not.

All of the signage indicating park rules carried the Marianella brand. Not that of Dublin City Council.

It doesn’t convey the sense that people who don’t live in the complex are welcome to be there, says Labour Councillor Fiona Connelly. “It doesn’t feel like a public space.”

Yet, the council, when it originally gave approval to these upscale apartments back in 2009, said that it would take charge of the park, says Connelly. “That was the deal.”

The developer Cairn Homes PLC, upon completing the park, was to manage and maintain it for a minimum of two years, before it could then offer that the council take it in charge.

Cairn Homes finished the job in 2018.

The council had also stipulated, back when it granted the development permission, that the park would be made public permanently.

That, however, cannot happen until it assumes charge of the park. A spokesperson for the council did not respond when asked what the hold-up was.

Sacred luxury

Originally, 75 Orwell Road was occupied by the Redemptorists Congregation, a Catholic clerical organisation of priests and brothers, as well as a Road Safety Authority driving test centre.

In August 2009, the Redemptorists applied to Dublin City Council to demolish the buildings on the site, including the existing monastery, to build 12 houses and 263 apartments across six blocks, a crèche and a public park.

The fathers and brethren got the council’s approval that September, with one of the conditions saying that after managing the park for at least two years, they should invite the council to take it in charge.

Those conditions also said that it would operate this as a public park in perpetuity.

In April 2015, the Redemptorists announced its sale in a statement, in which they said its funds would – among other things – support their missions in the parish and Mozambique.

Then, in July 2016, Cairn Homes PLC, the buyer, applied to the council to amend the existing 10-year planning permission, reducing the number of apartments to 209.

The council granted this in October 2016, with construction on the upmarket complex, six three-storey townhouses, and 10 detached houses being completed in 2018, according to CS Consulting, which worked on the project.

Not quite private, not quite public

While the council had originally said in its planning approval to the Redemptorists that the developer should offer the council to take charge of the park, that hasn’t yet happened.

Neither Cairn Homes PLC nor Dublin City Council have responded to queries sent on Friday about why the park had not yet been taken in charge.

Local councillors haven’t been able to work it out either.

Social Democrats Councillor Eoin Hayes says the council’s parks department is scheduled to meet with the management company. “That’s to, kind of, figure out what’s the best way of doing this.”

It’s been on the council’s agenda for a while, he says. “The Rathgar Residents Association has called for this for at least the past year.”

What may be the problem for the council is the challenge of taking on a new set of lands to manage, he says. “There’s obviously a cost and budgets and all that stuff.”

While it may not feel public, it is a very nice place to be in, says Labour Councillor Connelly. “And I know that the residents are really happy with the way it’s being maintained at the moment.”

But it would just be great if the council could move a bit quicker and open it up to the public properly, she says. “Whenever I pass by it, it’s never flooded. It’s quiet. Open it up and more people will use it.”

Because it has a playground, it should serve a greater purpose in the Rathgar area, she says. “I just think that green spaces and play spaces, in particular, for younger children are so important.”