Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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I happened to be knocking on doors when this announcement was made. When I arrived at the doorstep of an individual who worked for DIT and gave her the good news, she hugged me. That was the first hug I got since I became a Deputy. I thank the Grangegorman Development Agency for arranging that.

I formerly represented the Grangegorman area on Dublin City Council at a time when a considerable number of development projects were being planned for O’Devaney Gardens and elsewhere. Many of these projects never came to fruition, with the result that a level of cynicism had developed within the local community. Around the same time, a major redevelopment of Phibsborough shopping centre was proposed, which gave rise to concerns about the impact on traffic and transport.

It is an exciting prospect that all DIT’s different educational centres, which are currently dotted around the city, will be moving to a central location on the northside. I ask, however, that the agency bring the local community with it because it has already experienced disappointments with previous projects. We will do what we can as local representatives to ease the process. I ask the witnesses not to be strangers to this committee because we want to engage and provide whatever support we can.