Getting into bed with Ikea

I'm dying to see the shuttle bus from the new IKEA to the centre of Ballymun. Will it have a roof rack for the flat packs? Will Ballymuners be able to bring the tables and lockers onto the bus?
The An Bord Pleanala decision to grant permission to IKEA in Ballymun runs to over 5,000 words and includes 30 conditions.
In my opinion, the arrival of IKEA is a victory for the market over common sense. Building a ring road around Dublin and then slapping up shopping malls around it was always going to lead to traffic chaos. And on every other section of the M50 that's exactly what you get.
The conditions attached to the planning permission for IKEA are a desperate attempt to stave off the dreaded gridlock. It can't open until 11am in the morning. It can't close until late at night. The upgrade of the M50 must be finished. The junction must be reconstructed in a myriad of different ways to stop cars queuing on the M50.
There's even a plan to ensure that customers won't bring their cars at all. The planners have insisted that IKEA have electronic shopping and home delivery in place. This is so the working classes will be able to arrive by bus and have their order delivered. The middle classes can leave their Dalkey tractors parked at home while they shop online.
Some chance!
There is now a widespread acceptance that this form of development is bad news. It leaves the population chronically dependent on cars, encourages urban sprawl and damages town centres. The Government knows this too and that's why they limited the size of superstores.
But IKEA was too attractive a proposition to resist. The authorities feared losing out on jobs to Newry, so the cap on the size of stores was lifted. And now it will be open season for the multinationals who can stack-em-up, sell-em-cheap and live on very small margins.
One thing that confuses me is the idea of the 500 new jobs that IKEA will create. Is it possible that the people of Dublin will be so motivated by IKEA to spend enough to employ an extra 500 people in the furniture trade? Is it not possible that some of these jobs will replace those in other furniture outlets that won't be able to take the heat?
The upside is that these jobs will be in the Ballymun area. I've no doubt that the local agencies already have plans to train up local people for these jobs. Local people working locally is a very sound environmental and social policy.
But every time someone employed from Ballymun gets a job in the new IKEA store increases the risks for the area in the event of something going wrong. Decision makers need to spread the risk across the Northside rather than confine it to a specific area.
I think An Bord Pleanala has made a bad decision. The planners don’t believe it will set a precedent and feel that if their conditions are met the outcome will be positive.
I note that the Green Party specifically objected to the IKEA plan – not to the store but to its scale. Now that they have influence in Government, it will be interesting to see how similar planning applications are dealt with in the future.