A north Dublin man, originally from Iran, has publicly criticised the board of the Grangegorman Development Agency over its approach to input from the local community.
Pirooz Daneshmandi, who is the elected community representative on the board of the agency, told a public meeting in Dublin last week he is finding it difficult to get items of community concern onto the agenda, and that he listened to “excuses” from the board’s chairman John Fitzgerald as to why a community representative cannot be on the jury panel to choose the site’s planners.
Daneshmandi was speaking at a meeting in Dublin last week between members of the local community and potential election candidates in the area, where the Grangegorman development was high on the agenda.
The Grangegorman Devel-opment Agency is a statutory agency which was established by the Government last year to redevelop the former St Brendan’s Hospital grounds in Grangegorman as a new campus for the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and to provide community health facilities on behalf of the Health Services Executive (HSE).
“I want you all to know what’s going on,” Danesh-mandi told the meeting, adding: “I’ve a deep sense of disappointment with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. I wrote to him about increasing the representatives of the community on the board on a number of occasions. This is the Taoiseach’s constituency and we can’t get proper resources. This community has been traditionally ignored but this is an opportunity that can be grasped.”
Daneshmandi later told Metro Eireann that a newsletter recently sent out by the Grangegorman Development Agency contained pages headed “DIT’s vision”, “HSE’s vision”, but the community page was just entitled “Community”, and that “DIT promotional material” had been included in the community section.
He also criticised the organisation of the upcoming community consultation meetings, saying that members of Grangegorman Community Forum had suggested a public meeting where the board could be questioned by the local community about the development, but instead there will be two open days with “posters” and no definite guarantee of board members being present.
“In my experience, people don’t know what to be doing at things like that,” he said. “It is like a shop front that you pass. When they [the board] proposed this, I said this isn’t going to work.”
John Fitzgerald, chairman of the board of the Grangegorman Development Agency, said he rejected Daneshmandi’s comments. “The community issues are on every agenda… The minutes of the agenda are agreed by all of the board, and there are 15 on the board,” he told Metro Eireann.
He said the board first met last November, and the two upcoming open days will be the first real opportunities for the community as a whole to get involved.
Daneshmandi was speaking at a meeting in Dublin last week between members of the local community and potential election candidates in the area, where the Grangegorman development was high on the agenda.
The Grangegorman Devel-opment Agency is a statutory agency which was established by the Government last year to redevelop the former St Brendan’s Hospital grounds in Grangegorman as a new campus for the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and to provide community health facilities on behalf of the Health Services Executive (HSE).
“I want you all to know what’s going on,” Danesh-mandi told the meeting, adding: “I’ve a deep sense of disappointment with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. I wrote to him about increasing the representatives of the community on the board on a number of occasions. This is the Taoiseach’s constituency and we can’t get proper resources. This community has been traditionally ignored but this is an opportunity that can be grasped.”
Daneshmandi later told Metro Eireann that a newsletter recently sent out by the Grangegorman Development Agency contained pages headed “DIT’s vision”, “HSE’s vision”, but the community page was just entitled “Community”, and that “DIT promotional material” had been included in the community section.
He also criticised the organisation of the upcoming community consultation meetings, saying that members of Grangegorman Community Forum had suggested a public meeting where the board could be questioned by the local community about the development, but instead there will be two open days with “posters” and no definite guarantee of board members being present.
“In my experience, people don’t know what to be doing at things like that,” he said. “It is like a shop front that you pass. When they [the board] proposed this, I said this isn’t going to work.”
John Fitzgerald, chairman of the board of the Grangegorman Development Agency, said he rejected Daneshmandi’s comments. “The community issues are on every agenda… The minutes of the agenda are agreed by all of the board, and there are 15 on the board,” he told Metro Eireann.
He said the board first met last November, and the two upcoming open days will be the first real opportunities for the community as a whole to get involved.
“There will be a full explanation to the community of anything that’s happening or is likely to happen,” he said, adding that members of the board will be present.
“People will begin to get a feel of what is happening. It is a dramatic opportunity for a part of Dublin that’s been forgotten about.”
He contended that the selection process for site planners is “a very legalised process”, and that members of the board with relevant experience were chosen to undertaken this task. Fitzgerald added that the selection process for the planners also “goes back to the board”
“People will begin to get a feel of what is happening. It is a dramatic opportunity for a part of Dublin that’s been forgotten about.”
He contended that the selection process for site planners is “a very legalised process”, and that members of the board with relevant experience were chosen to undertaken this task. Fitzgerald added that the selection process for the planners also “goes back to the board”
Fitzgerald said he was “acutely conscious” of the need to create facilities for the local community on the Grange-gorman site, and to ensure minimum disruption to their lives during the development process.
The board of the Grangegorman Development Agency includes the acting chief executive of the agency; one Dublin City Councillor; one person nominated by the Dublin City Manager; one local resident; two people nominated by the Minister for Health and Children; two people nominated by DIT; and six people nominated by the Minister for Education and Science.
The Grangegorman Devel-opment Agency community open days are scheduled for:
- Wednesday 16 May at Park Inn, Smithfield Village, Dublin 7 from 10am to 9pm.
- Thursday 17 May at the Holy Family Parish Centre, 12/13 Prussia Street, Dublin 7 from 10am to 9pm.
The board of the Grangegorman Development Agency includes the acting chief executive of the agency; one Dublin City Councillor; one person nominated by the Dublin City Manager; one local resident; two people nominated by the Minister for Health and Children; two people nominated by DIT; and six people nominated by the Minister for Education and Science.
The Grangegorman Devel-opment Agency community open days are scheduled for:
- Wednesday 16 May at Park Inn, Smithfield Village, Dublin 7 from 10am to 9pm.
- Thursday 17 May at the Holy Family Parish Centre, 12/13 Prussia Street, Dublin 7 from 10am to 9pm.
