Extracts from Interviews

Extract from interview with Cllr. Cormac Devlin (Fianna Fail) representing Dun Laoghaire ward.

Me (Shane Scally): Do you think this (Dun Laoghaire) baths reflects very badly on local government?

Cormac Devlin: Well, it would reflect badly if they were no discussion about it or it fell off the agenda and by no means is it off the agenda? I, myself, have put down motions constantly asking management for an update.

Extract from interview with Senator Eugene Regan (Fine Gael) a former councillor (r.2004-2007) representing Dun Laoghaire ward.

Me (Shane Scally): The fact that it (Dun Laoghaire baths) has remained closed for this long (20 years) reflects a failure of local government?

Eugene Regan: There is no doubt it is the one big failure of the county council in Dun Laoghaire? You have a similar situation in other areas.

The new (current) plan for the coastline of Dublin including Dun Laoghaire

•3) The more cynical view would maintain that the baths area represents merely political ineptitude and lack of finance. As of last Friday (the 18th of April 2008) the local council voted to increase their bank overdraft to €7 million, this combined with tightening national finances probably means that the current plan budgeted at €420 million (€120 million for the Dun Laoghaire will not the see the light of day.
•In my opinion, I would take the view outlined in the first option.

•2) The baths area symbolises the ruins of modernity already prevalent in other western countries.
•Dun Laoghaire is one of the few areas in Ireland not to have experienced demographic growth. The last census recorded a slight decrease in population
•In Dun Laoghaire town currently there are 30 shops out of 240 empty and another 16 for let or sale.
•With some parts of the town decayed the baths can symbolise the ruins of modernity in Celtic Tiger Ireland.

The Symbolism of Dun Laoghaire Baths

•There are a few different meanings that can be drawn from the decayed remains of Dun Laoghaire.

•1) (Illustrated to the left are the former bathing areas.) It was closed down in the 1980s in stages, it many ways for the local (older) residents. The 1980s was a time of emigration, political instability and economic decline. The baths located near the ferry terminal (where emigrants left from) is an untimely reminder of an era in Irish life and history that they would rather not remember.

Sources

•http://www.dlrcoco.ie/
•http://www.ifsconline.ie/
•www.ddda.ie
Councillor Cormac Devlin and Senator Eugene Regan
My own photos