As tensions grow over parking around new apartment blocks, some councillors are looking for changes. But while the concerns have piled up, the way forward is less clear.

On Curtisy’s boundlessly imaginative blog rap: “This singular eccentric is on an exciting trajectory,” writes Dean Van Nguyen.

For people who miss a letter and lose their place on the social housing list, there may soon be an appeals process at last. In 2024, 29% of housing applications to councils across the country – for 5,626 households – were closed due to applicants' failure to communicate.

What’s the plan for the roll-out of Spencer Dock’s new Dart line and station? Some residents in the north inner-city are worried about how the new line will impact them, as their homes are very close to the tracks.

The draft Kylemore masterplan disrespects the city’s oldest Traveller site, say reps. For a start, it shouldn’t allow for up to 15 storeys over the road from the bungalows of Labre Park, says the coordinator of Ballyfermot Travellers Action Project.

Across the city, parents snatch their kids out of the way of red-light-breaking drivers. Despite years of talk, a promised national strategy on red-light cameras is yet to be published – let alone implemented.

In Portobello, the Bollywood Bar offers karaoke and cricket. There’s DJ nights, comedy open-mic nights, musical performances. And plans for board games and movie nights.

Works are planned to upgrade Grand Canal Harbour, a council report says. The area is in need of a lot of maintenance, says Michael Ingle of the Grand Canal Residents Association.

Looking ahead, Dublin City Council has been mapping where the next decade’s housing should go. One outstanding question, though, is whether any of the sites it identifies will be earmarked for Traveller accommodation.

Trained teachers of in-demand subjects are being shut out of jobs because of where adverts are posted. Schools don’t advertise vacancies on platforms the Department of Employment requires for its work permit process for those from outside the EEA.

Fingal County Council recently laid out its latest plans to “hold the line” against coastal erosion in Portrane. Emergency works should start soon, said a council official on 19 March – followed, if permitted, by a more extensive intervention.

When the council’s Markievicz leisure centre moves to Irishtown, it’ll leave a pool-sized hole in town. In a council survey, only 62 percent of centre members said they’d travel to its new location.

Councillors at a meeting yesterday back a renewed focus on serious anti-social behaviour in council housing complexes. “We know there are issues,” said Dublin City Council Assistant Chief Executive Mick Mulhern, at a recent housing committee meeting.

Dublin City Council continues to push for a hotel bed tax for the capital. A €2 per bed per night tax could raise more than €17.5 million a year, according to a council analysis.

Growing Women’s Sheds in Swords and Balbriggan are looking for permanent homes. There’s lots of demand for facilities but council doesn’t have any buildings or sites available right now, said a council official at a recent meeting.

Eight-year-old Cabra resident calls on council to provide a pump track in his local park. “Pump tracks are very fun,” says Oran Wood, who discovered the hilly tracks while visiting his cousins. Pump tracks can be traversed on bikes, skateboards, skates and scooters.

The Cabra Intreo centre was closed with little planning, or evaluation of how it would impact its users. But there’s still no sign it’s going to reopen – and now the nearest one’s 3km away, on Parnell Street.

For an article, @lokapila.bsky.social is looking at the rise of "landlord tech" in Dublin, from apps for building access and "digital butlers" to systems for rental payments and maintenance requests. Have there been recent changes in your building? She'd love to hear from you [email protected]

Council outlines plans to get moving again on 2,000 homes stalled by a central government u-turn. The Department of Housing was reviewing whether it was good value to develop them under public private partnership. It isn’t, it decided.

Council looks to trial moves to make Balrothery friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians. The new active travel plan for the village, which sits about 2.5km south of Balbriggan's town centre, includes a one-way system, among other measures.

In Howth, council plans to charge for parking on Harbour Road. Drivers would also be limited to leaving their cars in spots on the road for a maximum of three hours.

Inmates still earn just 50 cents for a day’s work in Irish prisons. While costs of basic items have risen, including snacks bought from the prison shop to fill long gaps between meals.

Gardaí likely knew Kurdish woman, whose body was returned to Turkey, wished to be buried in Ireland.

As campaigns gear up in central Dublin, how sound is the voter register? It isn’t hard to find people registered to the wrong addresses and zombie entries.

Dublin City Council continues to push for a hotel bed tax for the capital. A €2 per bed per night tax could raise more than €17.5 million a year, according to a council analysis.

The Cabra Intreo centre was closed with little planning, or evaluation of how it would impact its users. But there’s still no sign it’s going to reopen – and now the nearest one’s 3km away, on Parnell Street.

Inmates still earn just 50 cents for a day’s work in Irish prisons. While costs of basic items have risen, including snacks bought from the prison shop to fill long gaps between meals.

Eight-year-old Cabra resident calls on council to provide a pump track in his local park. “Pump tracks are very fun,” says Oran Wood, who discovered the hilly tracks while visiting his cousins. Pump tracks can be traversed on bikes, skateboards, skates and scooters.

Council outlines plans to get moving again on 2,000 homes stalled by a central government u-turn. The Department of Housing was reviewing whether it was good value to develop them under public private partnership. It isn’t, it decided.

As campaigns gear up in central Dublin, how sound is the voter register? It isn’t hard to find people registered to the wrong addresses and zombie entries.

In Ringsend, 176 new social homes sit empty due to funding paperwork delays. There are over 1,000 households on the council’s social housing lists for the area.

Growing Women’s Sheds in Swords and Balbriggan are looking for permanent homes. There’s lots of demand for facilities but council doesn’t have any buildings or sites available right now, said a council official at a recent meeting.

Council looks to trial moves to make Balrothery friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians. The new active travel plan for the village, which sits about 2.5km south of Balbriggan's town centre, includes a one-way system, among other measures.

In Howth, council plans to charge for parking on Harbour Road. Drivers would also be limited to leaving their cars in spots on the road for a maximum of three hours.

Gardaí likely knew Kurdish woman, whose body was returned to Turkey, wished to be buried in Ireland. www.dublininquirer.c...

In Ringsend, 176 new social homes sit empty due to funding paperwork delays. There are over 1,000 households on the council’s social housing lists for the area.

The council is still paying for upkeep of the Coolock Swimming Pool, which it has closed and likely never intends to use again. The council closed the pool after its roof was damaged in Storm Darragh in December 2024. In January, it put out a tender to fix the roof.

The council is set to brush off a plan for a new tearoom in Bushy Park, its chief executive says. First floated as an idea more than a decade ago, it stalled without funding.

Publish taskforce’s report on special education needs in Dublin 15, local councillors have told the Department of Education. It submitted its report and recommendations in June.

Developers must build promised creche spaces – and find operators to run them, a Fingal motion says. “It shall be a condition of planning that the developer must ensure the facility is fully delivered and operational,” Labour Councillor Mark Boland's motion says.

In Skerries, there's a new space for lovers of board and card games. The walls are stacked with games. Familiar ones like Catan, and Dungeons and Dragons, and less familiar ones such as Calico, Sushi Go, and Cascadia.

An Israeli fund backs one of Ireland’s biggest landlords, but who else? As the government courts more international money for Ireland’s rental sector, tenants say they want more transparency around who they are renting from.

Tusla says it's an offence to run an unregistered children’s home, but it places children in them anyways. So how does it square the circle?

A new disabled persons’ organisation has launched in Dublin. The Dublin DPO aims to bring together voices from across coalitions – groups for the blind, the mobility impaired, the autistic, and more.

As more foxes prowl the city, one councillor wants to know who is policing them. While the numbers of foxes in cities has been steadily creeping upwards, is it a problem or, if humans respond right, a boon?

Delays in residence permit renewals are putting the lives of non-EU immigrants on hold – again. After a while, they can’t work and can’t travel abroad and return.

Amid secrecy, Dublin City Council's CEO has been advancing his €600m+ plan to build a new council HQ. Richard Shakespeare recently held a closed-doors briefing for councillors, giving them a presentation that was watermarked so they could be caught if they shared it.

One in four staff posts in Dublin City Council’s local area offices aren’t filled. It isn’t creating any problems, said a council spokesperson. Some councillors aren’t too sure.

A grand vision for Pigeon House, on Poolbeg Peninsula, is shrunk way down – for now. Council officials want to keep renting it for about the next five years to the wastewater plant operators.

"Worried you're not getting enough protein? Never fear, we have you covered," writes Lois Kapila about the cover image she commissioned from illustrator Fahd Hussein for Dublin Inquirer #120, inspired by others' efforts to pack protein into anything and everything.