Locals tell council to 'arise and go' with new bridge plan

It was a view that inspired a young WB Yeats to pen one of his most iconic poems.

Now Sligo Borough Council's plans to construct its own contemporary icon -- a bold, modern bridge across the Garavogue river which will drastically alter the mystical surroundings of the Isle of Innisfree on Lough Gill.

The famous poem begins with the immortal lines: "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree".

The proposed eastern crossing of the Garavogue river is being bitterly opposed by hundreds of the town's most elderly residents whose tranquil view of the island and lake will be replaced by two walls of up to three metres high which are to flank a new two kilometre long carriageway.

Anger

And what is a relatively quiet road which runs along the river taking about 900 cars daily is projected to clock up 20,000 car journeys per day by 2021.

"There is the strongest sense of anger in this community, where the average age is 70," said Eugene McGloin, spokesman for the Garavogue, Doorly Park, Martin Savage Park and Hazelview residents.

He maintained there had been no consultation between the council and the local residents before the publication of the Environmental Impact Statement which is currently in circulation.

"Most of these people moved here as the original tenants of these in the 1950's when this part of town was still countryside and they worked hard all their lives so that they could buy out their houses.

"Now they are being asked to spend their later years behind these eight- to 10-feet-high walls with a major carriageway on their doorsteps," he said.

For Sligo Borough Council, the bridge is the next step in upgrading the infrastructure of the growing city which has already seen the opening of an inner relief road and the pedestrianisation of some of the main streets.

It says the proposed bridge would provide an eastern relief road, reducing traffic congestion, and establish a vital link for communities south of the river with Sligo General Hospital and the Institute of Technology.

However, Eugene McGloin disagrees, arguing that a visually stunning landscape will be irreparably damaged.

"We are not opposed to a river crossing. However this is the wrong place for it.

Anita Guidera
Irish Independent

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Sean O'Casey Bridge Wins Major International Engineering Award

Sean O'Casey Bridge Wins Major International Engineering Award

Dublin�s newest bridge, the Sean O�Casey Bridge, has won a major international engineering award. The bridge, which was commissioned by the Docklands Authority, won the Best Pedestrian Bridge at the International IStructE Awards run by the UK�s Institute of Structural Engineers.

Opened in mid-2005, the Sean O�Casey Bridge links the north and south Docklands, and has become an instant landmark on the River Liffey. The bridge has even featured in advertisements for O2, the Ryder Cup and, most recently for Guinness.

O�Connor Sutton Cronin, the structural designers of the Sean O�Casey Bridge, won the award for its work on the design of the bridge, which features a pioneering �swing� action that sees the two leaves or arms of the bridge open to allow boats pass up and down the River Liffey. Each �leaf� of the bridge is approximately 44 metres long and 4.5 metres wide and weighs around 160 tonnes. Each bridge leaf is a balanced cantilever and is designed to rotate on a central bearing supported on granite clad piers in the River Liffey. The piers are founded on four piles bored over 12 metres into the bedrock.

�The Sean O�Casey Bridge has not only become an architectural landmark in the Docklands area but has also made a huge difference to how people get around the area with the IFSC being only a five minute walk from Merrion Square now. The addition of the Macken Street Bridge in the next few years will reinforce the importance of these links in the city.� said Paul Maloney, Chief Executive, Docklands Authority.

The judging panel praised the structural solution for the bridge for combining lightness in design to resolve structural forces with efficiency and transparency. �The result is an aesthetic and elegant design,� they said.

The IStructE Structural Awards are one of the world�s most prestigious awards for structural engineering excellence. Run by the Institution of Structural Engineers, the annual awards celebrate the work of the world�s most talented structural designers.

Paul Healy of O�Connor Sutton Cronin said �we are delighted and honoured to have been awarded this prestigious international award from our engineering colleagues. This is a tremendous reflection on the innovative work by the entire design team.�

The architects for the Sean O�Casey Bridge were Brian O�Halloran Associates, project cost consultants, Bruce Shaw and Partners and the contractor, John Mowlem Construction.