Dr. Pat Daly:

I would like to add to what Mr. Shakespeare and Ms Farrelly said. Our experience in Limerick city centre is similar to Dublin. The market is changing and people’s needs and wants from the city centre are changing, particularly around retail. We are all aware that. The experiential approach will to feature more. We have been looking at this as part of the development plan process in Limerick. We have looked at the retail strategy for the metro area. That is common across authority areas in the country as they prepare the development plans. It is about looking at how to animate that space much more, as well as at how it can trip into the night-time economy, so that there would not be two distinct phases of an experience in Limerick from the business side in the daytime, switching not very effectively into the night economy. We have been asked to look deeply at that.

Revitalisation will be the carrot and stick approach, as Ms Farrelly mentioned. We are using all our legislative bases to challenge people who are moving on or developing properties. At the same time, we are gaining some success in Limerick on taking those back into ownership, changing them, and offering them back to the market. The owners are also stepping up to the plate and doing things. The Living City Initiative was mentioned. We are having some success in Limerick, which is a Georgian city. The scheme is dedicated to older buildings. Georgian buildings, in particular, are costly. The grant level may need to change or to be looked at. Broadly, it has the potential to be successful, but it may need some tweaking. We will probably engage with the committee on that later. However, it has potential and it would give people an impetus to develop, if either the grant or the percentage level on a tax base, were tweaked.

When people could only walk within a 3 km, 5 km, or 10 km limit, they engaged with their places. Place-making, as well as where retail animation is within that place-making, will feature heavily. I found it interesting - colleagues might share my view - that the engagement with trade and stakeholders has been active. People have taken much more interest in what they are trying to achieve, and in what they want from their cities and counties. That will feature heavily and the dialogue has been enriched. It should feature heavily in the development plan process going forward. I hope that answers some of the questions.