In the late 1980s, it was said that when a UK film-crew wanted to recreate post-war bombsites, they would come to the Dublin Quays because they resembled London after the Blitz. Apocryphal or not, a visitor would have found extensive vacant lots across much of the city. The area around Parnell Street at the end of O'Connell Street felt like the end of the world. This seventh volume in the Four Courts Press series on the development of Dublin City brings the project well within the living memory of many of us. Joseph Brady ably puts the events recalled in this encyclopaedic volume into historical context. The author's fine irony and mild cynicism about his city does not diminish his clear fondness for the place, but neither does he wander into anecdote or reminiscence: pitfalls, which he and his editor note, could occur given the relatively recent events discussed in the volume. Whilst his study intends to focus on the 1970s and 1980s, it is inevitable that it spreads chronologically beyond these dates, with some discussion of the city's redevelopment up to the mid-1990s.
Several long-term factors about the development of Dublin are brought to light, and these are not necessarily complimentary to the Irish capital. First, there was systemic duplication, confusion and inefficiency within the local and regional planning systems: ‘there has rarely been any overall plan to cope with change’ (p. 117). In one place, Temple Bar, redevelopment was placed directly in the hand of An Taoiseach (Prime Minister). Secondly, while there was no shortage of plans during this period, actually implementing them was another thing: ‘Dublin has a long history of studying its problems comprehensively, but a weaker history of implementation’ (p. 222). Furthermore, for much of the twentieth century, the city had no ‘coherent or consistent approach to road building’ (p. 364). Thirdly, partially as an outcome of property speculation, large areas of the city were becoming derelict by the mid-1970s, by which time land prices were as low as £3/ft2. Fourthly, unlike some better-financed continental cities, ‘The [municipal authority] did not have resources to initiate much development’ (p. 345). Finally, the lag between implementation of even quite minor innovations and construction (such as a shopping centre in Tallaght, or pedestrianizing the main shopping area, Grafton Street) often took 10 to 20 years. The proposed dedicated public transport link to the Airport is still awaited 50 years after being proposed. Brady does not spend time bemoaning these issues, instead he carefully and constructively tries to understand them, and giving praise where he sees it due.
The chapter on Dublin's environment is useful, especially in the present context of the climate emergency and increasing energy prices. It is eye-opening to read that some modern, electrically heated, homes built without chimneys, had them installed at tax-payers’ expense in the late 1970s, illustrating how variable energy policy has been over the last 50 years! This reviewer remembers well the smogs of the late 1980s and how quickly they cleared once a little imagination had been applied to the situation. Brady's chapter ‘The centre fights back’ tells the story of the early days of the ongoing project to reimagine the city centre, in the context of changing population, suburban development and dereliction, while ‘Urban decay and renewal’ explains what happened to the vacant lots mentioned above, mostly, quickly (hastily?) developed as single-bed apartments often with gauche names – ‘Viking Harbour’, ‘Pier 19’ and so on.
The wide range of full-colour illustrations are very welcome, although due to the format of the book, some of the maps are a little hard to read. The text generally moves along briskly, and, since it does not appear to be dedicated to the specialist reader, it avoids technical jargon and is not over-referenced (although there is a comprehensive bibliography). However, certain sections are a little dogged with detail. It is not the job of this book to provide international context, but to tell the story of the Irish capital. However, this reader was left wondering what to make of the various travails of Dublin's development. Was it typical of other Irish cities in this period? Or a broader aspect of post-colonial cities elsewhere? Notwithstanding these minor criticisms, Brady has assembled an indispensable reference text on the city in this period which will be of inestimable use to scholars working on comparative studies, Irish social history, planning and social geography. Given all of the issues raised by this book, perhaps Dubliners and visitors should be grateful that the city functions at all.
