Timeline of the developments at Clonliffe - from the 1850s to the current development

Page1 365px 1863 Opening of Holy Cross Seminary Clonliffe The Evening Freeman Mon 18 May pdf

1850s - The lands are gifted to the Church by the local community

your relatives and mine, people in absolute poverty, in post-famine Ireland, donated their last pennies to the Church
1860 - the foundation stone is laid

1860-Laying of Foundation Stone Holy Cross Clonliffe -The Catholic Telegraph-Sat 12 May

1863 - The seminary at Clonliffe is officially opened

For the next 150 years - the Church is continuoulsy funded by bequests and donations from the local community

despite hardship the local community continue to donate their last pennies

2017 - Eoghan Murphy introduces the "Strategic Housing Development"(SHD) plan

ostensibly as a vehicle to "solve" the housing crisis.

This allows for the fast-tracked building of packed accomodation blocks of a standard which would have formerly been considered inadequate and dangerous

is certainly does not "solve" the problem of international finance seeking foolproof risk free investments in pliant States

Developments under the SHD "can" override provisions made in the Dublin City Development Plan e.g. concerning the quality of housing, preservation of the environment and targets for better living etc. Such developments are (for example):

not obliged to provide any amenities/alleviations to the local community - no give and take...
can by-pass limits placed on the number of Student and Co-living blocks permitted within a given area in the City - ever more domitory living
can override the ratio of small single rooms to other types of flats from 25% (usual maximum) to e.g. 70% in this development
not subject much taxation
etc.

2018 - Lands of the Archbishop are sold - possibly illegally to the GAA

2018 - The lands of the Archbishop - were sold by the Church to the GAA in a secret process without local or any consultation.

This sale was possibly illegal and can potentially be legally unwound:

Oddly, there is actually a provision in the Constitution that seems to suggest that this could not happen. Article 44.6 states: “The property of any religious denomination or any educational institution shall not be diverted save for necessary work of public utility and on payment of compensation."

From Fintan O'Toole on the development of Marino in Dublin / Irish Times Jul 24, 2021

Why did the sale by the Church to the GAA take place in secret?

The sales process was conducted in secret, with only one buyer (the GAA) and then presented to the public as a fait accompli

the Church has a duty to extract the highest market price - for its congregation (the public), for its stated need for the monies, for the outstanding payments to abuse victims which in 2021 are still owing, as the victims slowly "die away".
a secret sale does not bring in the best market price
it suggests a nervousness about the legality of the sale
anything hidden is possibly fraudulent or corrupt

Absentee landlordism - The GAA sells most of the land on to Hines

2019 - The GAA (of all institutions!), again without local or any consultation sold most of the land on to, absentee landlords, Hines a Texas based fund, almost 100 years after Bloody Sunday

2020 - July 9th - Hines makes a first public presentation of their plans

the argument used is that the topology can take 6 then 10 and then 14(ish) stories (the maximum permitted height in this zone is 6 stories. See: Dublin City Development Plan (https://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-development-plan-2016-2022)

this meeting took place at the height of Covid 19, many local residents missed this meeting as it was not widely advertised (only a link on the GAA website).

2021 - July 14th - The developers submit plans in the holiday period under the SHD fast track to ABP - the public have 5 weeks to react

The developers have lodged a planning application with ABP under the terms of the SHD plan. - Under the provisions of the SHD the public has only one opportunity and only 5 weeks to react. The sheer number of documents provided are almost impossible to process in the time given.
the height of the tallest tower has now risen from 14 to 18 stories.

Taking without asking - power, the abused to be distrusted

The above can be seen a catalogue of institutional abuse (of the trust) of the public.

Once again it is the Church which is found to be taking without asking, refusing to consult despite its power (land, monies) coming from the people it refuses to ask.
Then there is the GAA - that GAA with Gaelic Heart beating at its core, instead of consulting the community in which it finds itself, follows the same pattern (it is addictive) and sells the lands to absentee landlords.
And then finally the Government - prefers to cede all power to international finance rather than go through the ignomy of trusting and benefitting its own people.

If you object, you are "blocking the alleviation of the housing crisis" - a difficult position to defend if it were true. Your betters know what's good for you.