OBAIRBulletin from the offic

e of PuBlic Works

Issue 21 : June 2009

liBraries in oPW heritage ProPerties

finglas, irishtoWn and Ballymun garda stations

oPW tag rugBy team, river dodder flood relief scheme,

tara lecture series, loughcreW schools comPetition

2

Images: xxx xxx

(above). xxx xxx

(opposite page). xxx

xxx (cover)

contents

Welcome 3

finglas, irishtown and Ballymun garda stations 4

castletown – st. Patrick’s day 7

libraries in oPW heritage Properties 8

the national Public Procurement operations unit 14

iso accreditation for accounts Branch 16

oPW tag rugby team 18

launch of the Phoenix Park management Plan and the new Phoenix Park website 20

toe head coast guard station, co. cork 22

the annual tara lecture series 24

river dodder flood relief scheme 26

the loughcrew schools competition 28

staff movement (January – June 2009) 30

WelcOme

Welcome to issue 21 of oBair magazine, the mid-year edition for 2009 2009 has been a challenging year for the oPW,

a reflection of the difficult conditions facing ireland’s

economy in general. thankfully work has continued

on many significant public projects throughout the

country and this magazine brings you the stories

behind some of these projects as well as details

of some of the social activities being enjoyed by

oPW staff.

in this issue we feature articles on a new

coastguard station at toe head near skibereen in

county cork, new garda stations in irishtown, finglas

and a new garda divisional headquarters (and dept.

of social and family affairs office) in Ballymun.

Work on the new flood relief scheme on the river

dodder is continuing and this issue brings you

the latest update. there’s news of a castletown

float in the st. Patrick’s day parade in celbridge,

details of this year’s hill of tara lecture series

and a fascinating history of library collections at

oPW heritage sites. iso accreditation was recently

awarded to oPW accounts Branch in kilkenny and we

bring you details within and in this landmark year for

irish rugby we bring you news of the oPW tag rugby

team; Brian o’driscoll beware!

a big thank you, as always, to all our colleagues

who took time out to supply us with articles

about the interesting work that they are doing.

this magazine would not be possible without

your help so please keep the articles coming.

remember, if you have any suggestions for

articles you feel could feature in future editions

of obair magazine, please feel free to contact

any of the editorial team listed below.

We hope you enjoy this mid-year edition of your

obair magazine.

george moir

kevin kennedy

Jenny dimond

Obair editorial Team

obair - June 2009 3

neW garda stations

the role of a modern garda station is different from

the historic police barracks. the design of recent

garda stations in irishtown, Ballymun and finglas by

the oPW aimed to achieve a number of goals:

• a contemporary building design that reflects the

public face of the gardai as a modern police force.

• a good quality work environment to assist the

gardai in providing a quality community based

service.

• a civic quality building that responds positively to

the garda brief of requirements and to the specific

site context of its site.

• an energy efficient and sustainable building with

universal access for all.

• to integrate the % for art into the architectural

design of the building rather than just hang

pictures on the wall.

and most importantly;

• complete the building on time, on budget and of an

architectural quality that reflects the important role

of the gardai in irish society.

IRIshTOWn GARdA sTATIOnthe site is of historical importance in that it was

once used as a viking fort in the 8th century. soil

investigation reports showed a substantial level

of made-up ground, which was put in place to help

raise the area above the original ground level given

irishtown’s vulnerability to flooding. this also gave rise

to particular foundation requirements.

in order to respond to the sensitive nature of the site

it was important for the new building to seamlessly

tie into the existing urban fabric and respond to the

scale of the surrounding buildings within a residential

context. this was achieved by echoing the scale and

proportions of the church and gospel hall on irishtown

road and the terraced housing on london Bridge road.

the building itself is simple and logical in plan

consisting of two wings, one to the south and one

to the east. the wing to the south houses the

administrative functions and the wing to the east

accommodates the various supporting services

necessary to the running of the garda station. Joining

the two wings is a centrally located core. the core

services multiple functions of vertical circulation,

natural ventilation, natural lighting and provides the

main public entrance to the building at its base.

the schedule of works required the demolition of

the old station, the provision of temporary garda

accommodation on-site, and the sequencing of

building works to facilitate a phased handover of the

completed project to the gardai.

4

Images: Wexford by

night (above)..

GARdA sTATIOns

BAllymun dIvIsIOnAl GARdA sTATIOnthe oPW garda station and social Welfare buildings

are located in a prominent position along the realigned

new Ballymun main street between the new civic

centre and student housing buildings.

overall site layout

the site layout has been generated by a number of

concerns –its restricted size and nature, the large

volume of office accommodation required in the

building briefs, significant car parking requirements

associated with this; and security issues relating

to the garda headquarters. there has also been

consideration of urban design requirements of site

enclosure and streetscape.

the approach to site layout and massing has been to

place the two buildings in a linear arrangement along

the length of the site, with the social Welfare offices to

the north, and the garda headquarters to the south,

creating a new public space set back from the main

road. at either end of this transitional urban space,

smaller volumes return to enclose it, and to bring the

faces of the buildings forward to adjacent building lines.

Both buildings have been designed as a unified complex,

and present a continuous façade to the street.

notwithstanding this however, there is complete separation

between the two buildings – of ground and basement

level car-parking; structure, access, circulation etc.

concentration of the accommodation at the front

of the site frees up its remainder for the extensive

car parking requirements of the brief at ground and

basement level.

design of the Buildings

With the widely differing architectural language

of the civic centre and the housing scheme, the

challenge was to take visual cues from, and develop

a relationship with, both, while still establishing

a recognisable identity for the buildings in their

role as public, social, and community buildings.

the proposed garda station is a roughly l-shaped

building, with an additional 2-storey pavilion to the

front. the main block is four storeys in height, with

a 5th storey on the return leg of the l, set back

and treated as a lightweight rooftop element with

aluminium cladding and glazing, and over-sailing roofs.

the lift and stair tower extend above this roof level to

relate more closely to the adjacent 11-storey tower.

the projecting 2-storey block to the front of the

scheme accommodates the public entrance and

double height public waiting and information areas.

it is treated as a lightweight pavilion with extensive

glazing and cantilevered roof planes. the main body of

the building is of standard masonry construction with

stone cladding to front ground level facades, and self-

finish render over.

obair - June 2009 5

GARdA sTATIOns

6

Images: xxx

glazing and cladding systems are aluminium framed

and all accessible ground floor widows are glazed in

laminated safety glass.

as far as is practicable, the building uses natural

ventilation through the use of openable windows and

high level vents. the shape and size of the cellular

plan form facilitates cross ventilation. over hanging

roofs to the largely west facing glazed facades reduce

solar overheating during summer, but also maximise

sunlight entering the building during winter months.

consultation with Ballymun regeneration ltd. (B.r.l)

extensive consultation took place with Brl throughout

the project. the oPW feel that it’s buildings will add a

further enhancement of civic design to the aspirations

of the overall masterplan and renewal of Ballymun,

while at the same time providing the gardai, and social

Welfare with modern fit for purpose buildings.

FInGlAs GARdA sTATIOnthis new station on mellows road, West finglas,

replaced an old village type garda station built

before the area was transformed by surburban

housing from the 1940’s to the present. the site was

a difficult leftover area purchased from the local

authority. unknown to everyone the site had been

used as a builders dump and had just been grassed

over many years ago. in addition various recorded

and unrecorded services had traversed the site

and required rearrangement so as to reduce their

impact on the new garda station. there were also

flood attenuation issues that needed to be resolved.

the new two and three storey station creates a

new “civic gateway” in conjunction with the adjacent

dublin city council local office and sports complex.

garda security requirements, which were extensive,

are integrated into a site design and landscape

plan so as to mitigate their visual impact.

Post occuPancy evaluation

We are in the process of evaluating the apparent

success of these new stations through discussions

with the gardai. this will hopefully lead to a further

refinement of the garda briefs. it will help, in turn,

the evolution of garda stations as a reflection of

a modern police force, providing a vital community

service in quality, cost effective new buildings

ciaran o’connor

obair - June 2009 7

castletoWn – st. Patrick’s day the oPW castletown house team as part of its

marketing strategy to attract more local visitors to

the house decided to enter a float in this year’s st

Patrick’s day parade in celbridge. the team came

up with the idea of making a model of the nearby

connolly’s folly, a landmark edifice which was built in

1740 to provide work for the tenantry on the estate.

it is currently being restored under the care of the

oPW’s national monuments division.

in fact the idea was not purely a marketing ploy but

an “outreach” to the local community to participate in

the facilities and events that castletown house and

parklands have to offer. indeed the events organised

for st Patrick’s day in castletown were arranged

to allow the local residents to attend the events in

the house in the early afternoon and finish their day

watching the parade on celbridge’s main street at

the main gates to the Parklands.

since the parade, links have been established with

the local community council who held a workshop

for children at castletown house during the easter

school holidays and on may 23rd will hold an event

for the celbridge area’s participation in the national

gallery’s drawing days.

the model was made by Bms carpenter, Jason

sheridan, with the assistance of glen mahon (Bms

apprentice). the painting of the replica was carried

out by the events officer at castletown, caoilfhionn

murphy. many thanks also to Ward knowles, Bms, for

driving the float in the parade.

the model was widely praised for its construction

and presentation. it will be used to promote

castletown house at events in the locality and

further a field.

John hayes

Facilities and events management

cAsTleTOWn

8

liBrary collections in oPW heritage sites

in addition to the office of Public Works headquarters

library which serves all oPW staff countrywide,

fourteen of the oPW heritage sites hold library

collections of varying sizes.

of particular historic interest are those associated

with former residents. the libraries at the glebe

house in co. donegal; farmleigh, the Pearse museum

(st. enda’s), the royal hospital kilmainham, and

rathfarnham castle in dublin; ilnacullin (garinish

island) in co. cork; and derrynane house in co. kerry

are all examples. sadly arthur Butler, 4th marquis

of ormonde, sold the contents of kilkenny castle,

including the library, in 1935. the leather bound

volumes which visitors now see in the bookcases

were purchased by the oPW at the time when they

restored the library and drawing room. however sixty

volumes from the ormonde collections came to light

over the years since and the oPW acquired them. the

140 leather bound volumes in the casino at marino,

dublin, were also ‘books bought by the yard’, only

seven of the over one thousand books at castletown,

co. kildare, have castletown bookplates. all of this

collection was donated to the castletown foundation,

or prior to that to the irish georgian society, and is on

loan to the state.

the libraries at the national Botanic gardens,

glasnevin, dublin and the John f. kennedy arboretum

in co. Wexford were built up for the use of the

organisations of which they form part. the collections

at two visitor centres, the Blasket centre, co. kerry,

and the Battle of the Boyne – oldbridge estate,

co. meath, also fall into that category. the following

is an attempt to give a flavour of what characterises

each of these great house and special collections.

lIBRARIes

obair - June 2009 9

lIBRARIes

in 1981 the artist, derek hill, donated the glebe house

and gallery to the nation. the oPW purchased his

library after his death in the year 2000. it covers a

broad range of subjects but its most important aspect

is the unique and valuable collection of art books

from around the world, including copies of derek hill’s

own books, ‘Portraits’ and ‘islamic architecture and its

decoration a.d. 800-1500’. he received gifts of books

from many writers and artists. among the famous

names found in dedications written in them are molly

keane, Jack yeats, norah mcguinness, John Betjemen,

noel coward, elizabeth Bowen, siegfried sassoon,

Patrick kavanagh, Jennifer Johnston and seamus

heaney. the jewel of the collection is a 1915 book of

Japanese woodblock prints.

following the government purchase of farmleigh

from the guinness family in 1999, a loan agreement

was set up whereby the library of the late 3rd earl

of iveagh would remain in its original home under

the care of the oPW. the collection, now known

as the Benjamin iveagh library, was donated to

archbishop marsh’s library in 2008, but with the

proviso that it would stay permanently at farmleigh

and be managed and maintained by the oPW.

Benjamin guinness (1937-1992) was given the library

on the occasion of his 21st birthday. he became a

keen book lover and collector, purchasing many

fine irish bookbindings and first editions. the work

of the Parliamentary Binders is perhaps the most

noteworthy amidst this magnificent collection which

includes examples of all the major irish bookbinding

styles. Jonathan swift’s ‘gulliver’s travels’ and James

Joyce’s ‘ulysses’ are two examples of first editions

by famous irish writers. the manuscripts also include

many remarkable items. the ‘treatise on the irish

alphabet and language’ was presented to elizabeth i.

it is said that she greeted granuaile with the words,

“conas atá tu?”, perhaps learnt from this little primer.

a letter of daniel o’connell to his ‘own darling love’,

tells his wife that the catholic emancipation Bill has

at last been passed. researchers and interested

groups may visit the library by appointment. in

addition to the Benjamin iveagh library there is

a selection of over one thousand books of irish

interest which were purchased by the oPW librarian

for the enjoyment of guests staying at farmleigh.

the Pearse family’s library is housed at the Pearse

museum in st. enda’s and in the Pearse reserve

collection in kilmainham gaol. it was donated to

the state following the death of senator margaret

Pearse in 1968. many of the books belonged to James

Pearse, Patrick Pearse’s father, who was largely

self-educated and had a wide range of interests.

among those which were owned by Patrick Pearse

are his law books, works of english literature and

many publications in the irish language. there are

first editions of the books he wrote himself, including

the short story collections iosagáin agus scéalta

10

eile and an máthair. Publications associated with

st. enda’s, the school he founded, including various

school magazines, are of special relevance to the

history of irish education.

the royal hospital kilmainham, now the home of the

irish museum of modern art, was founded in 1680

as ‘a comfortable retreat [for] antient, maimed and

infirm officers and soldiers’. volumes in the library

date from the sixteenth century on. it includes two

collections, what survives of the original library, and

the Pensioners’ library of mainly nineteenth century

books on many topics which formed a lending library

for the inmates. there are also about 350 prayer

books. many of the early books contain bookplates

which indicate by whom they were donated and

at what date. the earl of Pembroke’s bequest of

seventeen items was by far the most generous. the

bindings on the liturgical works are fine examples of

early irish bookbinding. this collection is currently in

storage so there is no public access to it.

the forty books at rathfarnham castle relate to the

period in the twentieth century when it was owned

by the society of Jesus. they are all of a religious

nature and were donated to the oPW by fr. edmund

o’keeffe s.J. in 1998. twelve of them, bearing various

Jesuit library bookplates, were in a box with the note

‘room of fr. John sullivan s.J.’ they were found in fr.

sullivan’s room at the time of his death. he had been

rector of rathfarnham castle from 1919 - 1924.

ilnacullin on garinish island was the home of the

Bryce family and their library which includes a wide

variety of subjects remains in situ. six different

members of the Bryce family wrote books which form

part of the collection, the majority of titles being by

James Bryce, jurist, historian and politician, and chief

secretary of ireland 1905-1907. other volumes of note

include some rare irish works, and more modern

books containing dedications from well known people,

such as douglas hyde, the first President of ireland,

and the writer and poet, katherine tynan. the house

obair - June 2009 11

at ilnacullin is not currently open to the public so

visitors see only the beautiful italian-style gardens.

derrynane house is known for its association

with daniel o’connell, whose successful campaign

for catholic emancipation in ireland was already

mentioned in connection with the library at farmleigh.

over one third of the 706 volumes in the library

there have signatures of various members of the

o’connell family and 23 of them bear the name

‘daniel’. there were however several daniels in

the family including the most famous daniel’s third

son. some of the inscriptions in childish writing are

clearly his. the books date from the late eighteenth

to the early twentieth century and the subject range

is quite broad. at least three ladies of the family

enjoyed the popular fiction of around the turn of the

twentieth century.

the most noteworthy of the sixty volumes at

kilkenny castle which had formed part of the

ormonde collection is a set of nine volumes of the

works of cicero, translated into french in 1670. they

bear the armorial crest of the 1st duke of ormond

in gilt on both covers. this is probably the set listed

in ‘catalogue of his grace the duke of ormond’s

books at his grace’s closet at kilkenny castle, an

account taken of them by his grace’s directions ...

1684-5’. the rest of the books are all of a later date.

many of them have book plates, eighteen with the

motto ‘comme je trouve’. the volumes purchased to

fill the bookcases were almost all published in the

nineteenth century and cover many subjects. even

the bookmarks which turn up in them can be rather

delightful: calling cards, cigarette cards, a 1930 album

of famous screen stars, prayers, memoriam cards,

invitations to religious events and to duffy’s circus,

and various advertisements including one for a tonic

for your pet canary.

the books at the casino, marino date from the

seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

and the majority deal with religious matters, followed

closely by literature.

the books and journals at castletown cover the

whole range of arts and sciences. a very fine

collection of volumes was donated by J. Paul getty

Jnr. to the irish georgian society for display at

castletown. as at farmleigh, there are examples of

12

irish parliamentary binding. a magnificent cover in

red goatskin with gold tooling, the work of Boulter

grierson’s binder ca.1765, rather incongruously

encloses ‘a complete treatise on gangrene and

sphacelus; with a new method of amputation’. a

set of four volumes of the works of John locke,

bound in 1763 by William mckensie of dame st. in

brown morocco and bearing the coat of arms of

trinity college dublin, was presented as a prize

to charles William Bury in 1784. William hutchinson

carroll’s seventeenth birthday present in 1834 was

a library of 31 volumes all measuring just 9 cm high

in a morocco box. the ruins of Balbec, by robert

Wood (1757) bears the bookplate of thomas connolly

and there is evidence that it was consulted for the

interior finishing of castletown.

the earliest of the institutional collections, the

national Botanic gardens library, was initiated in

1799, four years after the gardens were established.

it is the only library of its size in ireland which

specialises in botany and horticulture. the oldest

book is Brunfels’ herbal, published in 1532. the

holdings were greatly enriched by gifts and

bequests. in 1911William edward gumbleton left

a remarkable collection of nineteenth century

colour-plate books to the gardens. Pierre Joseph

redouté was artist to the empress Josephine, wife

of napoleon Bonaparte, and painted many of the

plants growing in her garden. his books, les roses,

les liliacées, and Jardin de la malmaison form part

of the gumbleton bequest, as do the early volumes

of curtis’s botanical magazine. first issued in 1787,

this is the longest running botanical periodical with

colour illustrations of plants, and the gardens have

a complete set. the library of augustine henry,

first Professor of forestry in the royal college of

science (now university college dublin), was another

important bequest. over the past thirty years the

gardens library has grown greatly because of

agreements set up for the exchange of publications

with botanical and horticultural institutions

worldwide. Books including floras, periodicals,

nursery catalogues and offprints are included in the

published material held. the archives of the gardens

also form part of the library, and collections of

photographs and of botanical art. there are over

3,000 art works, from george victor du noyer’s

1830’s paintings of apples and wild roses and fungi

to the work of modern botanical artists such as

Wendy Walsh. the library serves the botanical and

horticultural staff and horticultural students at

the gardens and also the many plant enthusiasts,

students and botanists who visit.

following the death of President kennedy in 1963,

irish americans wished create a memorial to him in

ireland, and thus was born the idea of the John f.

kennedy arboretum, which was formally opened in

1968. a library of arboricultural and botanical material

obair - June 2009 13

was built up. h.m. fitzpatrick donated 31 of his own

notebooks and a large number of items - books,

notebooks, letters and articles - which had belonged

to augustine henry, so this collection complements

the henry material held in the national Botanic

gardens.

the Blasket centre, built in 1993, tells the story

of the people who lived on the great Blasket

island until resettlement on the mainland in 1953.

early 20th century scholars encouraged the irish

speaking islanders to write their life stories. many

will remember studying Peig, by Peig sayers at

school. other well-known titles are an toileánach,

by tomás o criomhthain and fiche Blian ag fás, by

muiris o suilleabháin. the library at the centre holds

a very comprehensive collection of books by the

Blasket writers, and information in a wide range of

media relating to the life and culture of the island.

in addition to books, articles, genealogical records,

manuscripts and photos, there are films and an

archive acquired from radio na gaeltachta including

interviews with Blasket born people and recordings

of their music and song. a collection of c.1400 books

of irish interest from the library of máirin Bean uí

dhálaigh (wife of President cearbhall Ó dálaigh) was

presented to the centre. researchers are allowed

access to the Blasket centre library.

a collection of books and articles was acquired

for a library in the newest heritage site at the

Battle of the Boyne – oldbridge estate, which was

officially opened in may 2008. While the visitor

centre provides an excellent overview of the events

of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne and the historical

background, members of the public who wish to

pursue their research further can have access to

the library.

in 2005 and 2006 the oPW librarian, valerie ingram,

organised the electronic cataloguing of eight of the

heritage site libraries and the digitisation some

manual catalogues. each site now has its own

catalogue and the oPW headquarters library has

access to all of them.

14

the national PuBlic Procurement oPerations unit

the national Public Procurement operations unit

(nPPou) was established by government decision

(s180/20/10/0964B) of 8 July 2008 which assigned policy

responsibility for procurement to the minister of state

at the department of finance and the office of Public

Works.

the nPPou was established as a new division of the

office of Public Works, subsuming relevant functions

of the government supplies agency. the head of the

unit ( mr. vincent campbell) is a member of the oPW

management advisory committee. the funding of the unit

is by means of a new subhead in vote 10. the chairman

of the commissioners of Public Works is the accounting

officer for the unit.

the minister of state chairs the Board of the nPPou

which is composed of senior officials from a range

of purchasing organisations including departments,

agencies, local authorities and the health service

executive to advise on public procurement policy and

implement practical steps to drive the procurement

reform process.

the establishment of the unit is in line with commitments

made by the government in its statement on

transforming Public services. in that context the unit

will submit regular updates on progress to the cabinet

committee on transforming Public services. the unit will

formally report annually with such report incorporated

within the annual report of the oPW.

the main oBJectives of the unit are as folloWs:

• organise the procurement of common goods and

services (e.g. office equipment, furniture, vehicles,

fuel, electricity) across the public service and

co-operate with procurement arrangements in the

health services executive;

• provide professional procurement advice to the

public service, assist where appropriate with

specialist procurement undertaken directly by public

service bodies, organise networks of procurement

professionals and develop targeted and accredited

procurement training and education measures;

• establish appropriate links with public procurement

structures in northern ireland in consultation with

the ni department of finance and Personnel;

• operate and develop the e-tenders system and

further develop and deploy appropriate and cost

effective e-procurement systems; and

• integrate whole-of-government policy issues

(e.g. sme’s, environment, sustainability) in public

procurement policy and practice.

PROcuRemenT

the timely procurement of goods and services

on behalf of its customers across the public

service is viewed as critical to the success of

the unit. as central procurement arrangements,

including shared services where appropriate, are

established by the unit, it is envisaged that such

arrangements will be supported by clearly agreed

and understood service level agreements, thereby

ensuring appropriate focus on customer service.

in this context, it is envisaged that, as the unit

develops expertise in the procurement of common

goods and services and the delivery of an effective

customer service, it will become mandatory for

government departments and offices to participate

in aggregation arrangements put in place by

the unit. the question of extending mandatory

participation to local authorities and non-commercial

state Bodies will be kept under review.

in one of its first initiatives the unit was tasked

with getting a €25 million saving on all contracts

currently in place with government departments

agencies and offices. this initiative commenced

in may and to date savings in the region of

€23 million have been achieved and the unit

is confident that it will meet the target.

the unit will take on sole responsibility

for the government e-tenders website

in July and is at present going to tender

to upgrade and enhance this site.

the staff of the unit is made up of former gsa

personnel and new staff from other departments

with particular procurement expertise. it is a

policy of the unit that all staff are encouraged

to undertake relevant training courses and to

date five members of the team have completed a

certificate in Public Procurement while two members

of the team are in their final year of an mBs in

strategic Procurement in dublin city university

in setting up the new unit and with the move to

trim a number of new people have joined us. the

new faces that will be seen about the building

are eilish o’connell, martin Bourke, tom o’Brien,

andy Bogie, Bernard garry, sandra doyle, Jackie

stewart and Bernie mangan . Íde de Burca also

joined the team in dublin who have moved from

51 st. stephens green to 17-19 lr. hatch street.

this is an exciting time for the unit with new

procurement teams being set up, new markets being

targeted and new challenges being set for. the nPPou

can make a difference in the recovery of our economy,

we are all looking forward to that opportunity.

séamus o’neill

nPPou

obair - June 2009 15

16

IsO

iso accreditation for accounts Branch

the internationally recognized standard of excellence

has been awarded to the accounts Branch of the office

of Public Works. accounts Branch has been awarded

an update of iso 9001:2000 called iso 9001:2008.

this updated standard of excellence has only been

available since 15 november 2008. the accounts Branch

of oPW is the first accounts Branch of any government

department to receive iso 9001:2008 accreditation. this

is a proud achievement for both the accounts Branch

and the office of Public Works.

accounts Branch has always been committed to

the highest possible standards of service to all

of its customers, and to assist in this goal it has

implemented a Quality management system meeting

the requirements of iso9001:2008. a commitment to

consistent, high quality performance is now met by

adherence to this Quality management system, which

serves to establish controls and foster a culture

committed to excellence.

the iso certificate was presented to accounts Branch

staff by minister of state dr. martin mansergh td on 16

January 2009. speaking at the ceremony dr. mansergh

said “i have always been impressed by the office’s

ability accurately to forecast and manage expenditure,

even during recent times of frequent changes to

allocations and savings having to be made. i notice that

the 2008 outturn was very close to the final allocation.

this effort is coordinated from kilkenny, and is a very

significant achievement and contribution to the office Images: xxx

obair - december 2008 17

IsO

as a whole. i run a farm with my brother, and take

charge of the accounts. i wish i could even approach

your levels of precision”.

the duties of the accounts branch include the payment

of the salaries of over 2,000 staff and the making

of approximately 46,000 payments to contractors

and suppliers. this work is of vital importance to

the office, because timeliness of payments and

total accuracy are absolutely essential, both in

maintaining confidence of staff and customers

and in enabling management to have up-to-date

expenditure information. With a financial turnover of

some €635m in 2008 this is a significant operation.

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18

TAG RuGBy

oPW tag rugBy team

While tag rugby has been played in ireland for the

last ten years, oPW entered their first team this

season. this came about as a result of saskia

o’connor playing social tag with her old office and

terry Beagon playing veterans tag with his rugby club

in the previous season. Between them the idea was

hatched to form an oPW team and before long they

had gathered a squad of twenty one players, made up

of nine women and twelve men.

Pre-season training began in late april and the squad,

many of whom had never played rugby before, met

up every tuesday evening after work in herbert Park

to learn and practice the various skills required. so

enthusiastic were they that on one occasion they lost

track of time and managed to get themselves locked

into herbert Park and had to escape by scaling the

park railings!

Before entering an itra (irish tag rugby association)

league against seven other teams a competition was

held to find a name for the team, and the winning

entrant was aoife hurley with her clever suggestion

of “tender Package”. so began tender Package’s

campaign of seven matches, which were played, every

tuesday evening on the astro-turf pitches in ucd.

the squad members comprised of: saskia o’connor,

roisin feeney, aoife hurley, maeve dowling, kathleen

tierney, christine kennelly, katarzyna sentycz, marta

deka, margaret gluper, michael mescal, andrew davies,

trevor nolan, ray harli, Paul smith, george moir,

charles moore, sven Johnson, ronan clerkin, Brian

allen, lennart sopbieki, and terry Beagon.

considering their lack of any previous experience

tender Package did very well in winning six of their

seven matches in the league and earning themselves

a place in the final, which they only narrowly lost.

apart from the success on the pitch a very successful

après-match pattern soon developed in going to o

shea’s public house for refreshments, which allowed

an opportunity for the staff from a variety of oPW

Business units to get to know each other.

Images: xxx

obair - december 2008 19

POs Team Played W d l F A Pd Pts dis Pts Fin Pts

1 Balls ‘n’ dolls 7 6 0 1 111 43 68 24 0 24

2 tender Package 7 6 0 1 93 31 62 24 0 24

3 the in-touchables 7 5 0 2 101 63 38 20 0 20

4 greyskull 7 5 0 2 86 52 34 20 0 20

5 dynamite deloitte 7 3 0 4 56 53 3 12 0 12

6 the Whatchamacallits 7 2 0 5 51 99 -48 8 0 8

7 the green lions 7 1 0 6 24 94 -70 4 0 4

8 tullow terminators 7 0 0 7 52 139 -87 0 0 0

league table key: W = Wins d = draws l = losses f = Points scored a = Points conceded Pd = Point difference (Points scored minus Points

conceded) Pts = Points from matches dis Pts = disciplinary Points to be deducted fin Pts = total Points

20

launch of the Phoenix Park management Plan and the neW Phoenix Park WeBsite

the new Phoenix Park management Plan was officially

launched by minister of state dr. martin mansergh td

in the oPW hQ atrium on tuesday 24th march 2009.

the management Plan aims to balance the

responsibility to protect, conserve and enhance this

unique landscape, its environment, heritage and

vistas of the Phoenix Park, with active and creative

policies to facilitate wider access and to increase

opportunities for enjoyment, information, education

and recreation, now and into the future. the Plan

is strategic in nature, setting out the vision and

strategic objectives for the 21st century. Within this

broader framework, the Plan also sets out specific

objectives and actions for implementation in the initial

5-10 year period. some measures will continue to be

implemented as long-term actions.

in the light of the above the overall vision for the

conservation management Plan is:

“to protect and conserve the historic landscape

character of Phoenix Park and its archaeological,

architectural and natural heritage whilst facilitating

visitor access, education and interpretation;

facilitating the sustainable use of the Park’s

resources for recreation and other appropriate

activities, encouraging research and maintaining its

sense of peace and tranquillity.”

the emphasis in drawing up the plan has been

consultation with the widest possible number of

stakeholders. the Plan is based on a comprehensive

range of baseline studies that include: Birds, Bats,

fish, mammals, trees, Biodiversity & geodiversity,

Water Quality, recreation, Planning context study,

transportation and analysis, together with a series

of facilitated consultations with stakeholders and

submissions received from interested parties and the

public. representatives from 53 groups were invited

to give their opinions, and, given the huge interest,

it was decided to hold four ‘themed workshops’ to

focus the contributors on key questions on the

future of the Park. many other contributions were

received from individuals and bodies in response to

advertisements in the press.

PhOenIx PARk

lAunch

obair - december 2008 21

speaking at the launch of the Plan, minister mansergh

said “Preparation of the Plan was guided by the

conservation management Plan advisory committee,

which comprised a team of experts in relevant

disciplines. i would like to thank them for their

contribution over the past few years: dr edward mc

Parland of tcd, ms grainne shaffrey, conservation

architect, mr andrew sumner, landscape architect,

dr mary tubridy, ecologist, ms Jacqui donnelly,

conservation architect, doehlg, ms margaret keane,

senior archaeologist, doelhg, Prof tom hayden,

mammal research unit ucd and mr leo oosterweghel,

the director of dublin zoo. oPW staff included, dr.

John mc cullen, laura farrell, angela rolfe, colm

ryder, Bridgeen kelly, hugh Bonar, who all gave their

invaluable expertise to the process. in particular

my thanks go to michael grace of Brady, shipman

and martin for his editing skills, and to both gabriel

gleeson and margaret gormley, Park superintendent,

who project managed the entire the entire process”.

neW Phoenix Park WeBsite

www.phoenixpark.ie, the new Phoenix Park website

was also launched in march 2009. the website will be

a powerful tool in communicating with the public and

educating people about the Park and what happens

there. there is a large and growing number of

publications on the Park, its history and lineaments.

the new website will significantly add to the

information available to the public, and will do it in an

easily digestible and instantly accessible way. anyone,

anywhere in the world, will be able to access the

history of the Park with maps, plans, biodiversity and

habitat maps available at a single site. the website

will also be constantly updated to give details of the

constant programme of events and activities which

take place in the Park all year round. this new website

represents the future in fulfilling the oPW’s remit to

educate and inform the public on ireland’s heritage

and to do it in the most cost-effective way.

www.phoenixpark.ie

22

toe head coast guard station, co. cork

the purpose of the irish coast guard is: “to reduce

the loss of life within the irish search and rescue

region and on rivers, lakes and waterways and to

protect the quality of the marine environment within

the irish Pollution responsibility zone, harbours

and maritime local authority areas and to preserve

property. to promote safety standards, and by doing

so, prevent, as far as possible, the loss of life at

sea and on inland waters and other areas, and to

provide an effective emergency response service”.

chris reynolds, director irish coast guard

the 54 coast guard units and their station houses

are positioned at strategic locations around ireland

and possess initial action fast response equipment.

coast guard units are crewed by 950 male and

female volunteers. the equipment includes radio

communications systems, cliff rescue gear, rescue,

patrol, transport and search boats, response

vehicles, line throwing apparatus, first aid equipment,

personal protective equipment, uniforms, portable

generators and lights and day and night search gear.

all units are operated totally by local crews, (who

typically live within 10 minutes of the station house),

who give freely of their valuable time and effort to

the coast guard, local community and ‘those in peril

on the sea’, cliffs and coasts of ireland. training is

provided for the volunteers, and these are available

on-call, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

the toe head building was constructed as part

of building programme for the coast guard units

in conjunction with the office of Public Works. the

new building includes an operations room that

has a radio link to rescue headquarters in dublin,

a training room and a boathouse and garage for

storing the vehicles and boat as well as changing

and shower facilities.

this is the 10th modern coast guard station that

oPW has built. other completed buildings are

Bunbeg, dingle, castletownbere, oysterhaven,

youghal, dunmore east, ardmore, tramore, howth,

and rosslare. current projects include crosshaven,

doolin, greystones, goleen, killybegs.

TOe heAd

obair - december 2008 23

toe head coast guard station is located on the

coast close to skibbereen, co. cork. the new station

replaces a smaller building that had been built by

the local team. With the upgrading of the coast

guard brief and the provision of more equipment, a

significantly bigger building was needed. Because the

site is located in a scenic coastal area of West cork,

oPW was involved in a lengthy planning process

with cork county council before obtaining planning

permission. local builder, lar o’donovan was

appointed and the building was completed in august

2008. the design team was mainly in-house with a

consultant Quantity surveyor, richard leonard and

associates of cork.

the site is situated close to the shore and allows

weather and sea conditions to be evaluated from

the operations room. externally, the use of natural

materials including local castlehaven stone, helps

the building to fit into the landscape.

ProJect team:

OPW Property management services:

John drohan

oPW Project management services:

michael cooney

catherine kennedy

katie gentlemen

Pascal tobin

OPW Architectural services:

michael haugh

deirdre Wolahan

carmel smith doyle

OPW engineering services

ian Wolfe

nicola heneghan

michael Byrne

oPW m&e services

conor clarke

ronnie lewis

deirdre Wolahan, architectural services

24

Images: xxx

TARA lecTuRes

the annual tara lecture series

every Wednesday evening in July for the past nine

years, people have gathered to enjoy the free

lectures organised by the office of Public Works in

the old church of ireland church on the hill of tara.

the church has served as the oPW visitor centre

since 1992 and still retains all of the church furniture.

regulars to the lectures bring cushions to ease the

discomfort of the hard pews!

over the years, the subject matter for the talks has

been varied and eclectic.

topics have included archaeology, mythology, folklore,

history, music, neo-paganism, theatre and lots more.

sometimes there is a thread to connect one lecture

to the other; at other times we range far and wide

without an obvious link.

the lecturers have all been distinguished speakers

from a range of disciplines who enjoy the relaxed

atmosphere of the venue. We have a loyal core

audience who attend all the lectures each summer. We

also have people who attend just when the particular

topic appeals to them. People have formed friendships

over the years through their shared enthusiasm.

this year, the lectures celebrated astronomy and were

organised in conjunction with the international year of

astronomy. in four short weeks, we got from neolithic

astronomy, through the copernican revolution, to the

19th century Birr telescope and onto the hubble space

telescope. an added feature of the talks was that

the speakers dressed according to the period about

which they were speaking. terry moseley from the irish

astronomical association in his ’neolithic ‘ outfit got the

loudest cheer!

the hill of tara is the most wonderful place to be late

on a summer’s evening. We are already talking about

next year’s series!

clare tuffy

obair - June 2009 25

TARA lecTuRes

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river dodder flood relief scheme

in 1993 and 2002 , the residents of ringsend

experienced extensive flooding when the dodder

river overtopped and many properties were

flooded. following the 2002 event, dublin city council

constructed the wall running in front of stella gardens

helped by funding of €1.7million from oPW.

subsequently, dublin city council commissioned a

report to reduce flood risk on the lower dodder from

both tidal and fluvial events and this was completed in

January 2007.

the office of Public Works and dublin city council have

been working in partnership for a number of years to

manage flood risk in dublin city. following discussions

between oPW and the city council, oPW commenced

flood relief works on the river dodder at shelbourne

stadium in september 2007 with staff from the east

region maintenance office. o.P.W have had an average

staff of eighteen working on site since that date.

Phase 1 of the scheme which involved the construction

of extensive flood walls on both sides of the river

from ringsend Bridge to londonbridge (westside) is

completed. Phase 2 of the scheme is currently ongoing

and involves the area from londonbridge to new

Bridge, it is expected that this work will be completed

in april 2010. Phase 1 of the scheme was officially

opened by the minister for environment, heritage and

local government, John gormley td, minister of state,

dr. martin mansergh and cllr. kevin humphries (now

deputy lord mayor) on 26th may 2009.

these works are managed by a very close relationship

between gerard o’connell (d.c.c), John murphy, Jim

dervan and Jamie keogh of oPW east region, with

financial matters being administered by teresa collins,

flood risk management services. local cooperation

with the works was excellent with site offices

being based in the shelbourne Park throughout

construction.

the major beneficiaries of the scheme are local

residents and businesses who have had to live with

the threat of flooding for many years. organisations

to benefit include the 4th dublin sea scouts, who

have gained significantly from the flood works having

had there old premises demolished and disposed

of by o.P.W. this provided for a bigger and more

modern clubhouse and better access for boats than

previously existed, and the lansdowne lawn tennis

club who have had their hoardings replaced by walls.

the scheme shows the very good value for money

achieved by oPW direct works on flood relief schemes

with all the works completed to date costing less than

26

dOddeR

obair - June 2009 27

dOddeR

€7 million. the next phase of works is from new Bridge

to lansdowne railway Bridge and is expected to

commence before the summer of 2010.

further works on the dodder may be undertaken

when the river dodder catchment flood risk

assessment and management study is completed later

this year. the main aim of the study is to undertake a

comprehensive flood risk assessment of the entire

catchment and develop measures to deal with the

risks identified.

teresa collins, engineering services

28

WInneRs

the loughcreW schools comPetition

A JOInT cOmPeTITIOn Run By OPW And meATh TOuRIsm In AssOcIATIO

n WITh

meATh cOunTy cOuncIl lIBRARy seRvIce

selection of the Winning entries

mRs ROckdROPby Padraic clintondunshauglin, aged 10here is a story to tellyour wee bairnsabout a witch in oldcastleat loughcrew cairnsa meath witch, yes its trueflying high in the dark, black blueher tale is strange, not of guts and bones

But a daft old witch dropping stones“hop, skip and jump” her favourite game

making three hills not quite the same

the fourth, her best at Patrickstownsliabh na gcaillí where she fell down

gone was her power, as she lay dead

But can you tell me where is her bed?

if you climb the hill to sit on her chair

make a wish-she might just appear!children, childrenBeware, Beware!

obair - december 2008 29

The lOuGhcReW cAves

By mikey kenny

drumbarragh ns

down in the caves lived a witch called scary mary.

to outsiders she was known as the loughcrewWitch.

she did nothing all day. she was bored all the time,

hadn’t even heard of soccer. she has only ever got off

her sofa five times!!! and she is aged fiftytwo.

one day the Witch got off her sofa for the sixth

time, she must want baked beans. surprisingly not.

she said, “ i am going to get out of this cave and find a

friend”. (she means she is going to kidnap somebody)

the next day she got out of her cave and saw the

lovely loughcrew. and she searched for someone to

make her best friend. she searched and searched until

she saw a girl on the beautiful loughcrew. she went

up to get her. finally she found her and said to her in

timid voice “hi, i am scary mary (the loughcrew witch).

What is your name?” “my name is mary, nice mary if you

will,” they both laughed at mary’s joke. scary mary said,

still laughing a little, “do you want to come to my cave?”

she replied in a slightly scared voice,“your cave?”

scary mary said in an everyday voice, “ya, my cave,

see you would know me as the loughcrew witch” mary

said in a quiet yet shocked voice “you’re the loughcrew

witch” scary mary replied calmly, “ya so do you want to

come to my cave?” “no thanks”.

“Well you have no choice” she said in a sharp voice.

she took her back to the cave and there was silence.

nobody spoke until scary mary turned on the tv

and it said “usain Bolt’s marvellous achievements go

on and on as we can see, he is the best in the world

without a doubt” scary mary asked mary “what does

usain Bolt do?” she replied, still a little scared, “Well,

in the 2008 olympic games in Beijing, he won gold

in everything, made loads of new records, and he is

always in the papers”

scary mary said in an interested voice, “really, with

all this talk, i want to get a headline. you know what i

am going to do, jump from four hills to gain sporting

power. do you want to come with me? “ mary answered

quickly, “ya”

so scary mary untied mary and mary said, “can i go

to the bathroom?” “ya”

a half an hour passed and mary had not come out

of the toilet. so scary mary went in and she had gone.

scary mary said, slightly mad, “i am going to do it”

later that day, she got up to the first hill and

jumped to the second and to the third and as she went

for the fourth, she could not make it and died. her

funeral was the next day and mary attended. the end.

Witch by cian swaine

30

Images: xxx

staff movement (January – June 2009) Paul costello co career Break 16/01/2009

Bernadette Whelan co commenced 12/01/2009

fasil abebe gebre engineer grade iii commenced 08/06/2009

Willie tuohy so Promoted to executive officer 02/02/2009

mick long aPo Promoted to Principal officer 16/02/2009

tom costello Po retired 27/02/2009

anne hennessy co retired 02/03/2009

anthony colbert arch. assistant grade 1 retired 06/03/2009

Jean o’laoire senior architect retired 03/04/2009

des thorpe ass. Principal architect retired 03/04/2009

greg farrell chief technical officer retired 06/04/2009

nora conway co retired 16/04/2009

Brid durnin eo retired 20/04/2009

catherine singleton co retired 05/05/2009

Pat heraghty districk Works manager retired 15/05/2009

mabel mcguire cleaner retired 16/05/2009

Jenny Byrne eo retired 18/05/2009

Patrick elliott heo retired 18/05/2009

tom o’kelly inplant operator retired 31/05/2009

tom sherlock Po retired 26/06/2009

Paul costello engineer grade ii return from cB 12/01/2009

emma stevens asst. librarian return from cB 09/02/2009

marion coughlan co return from cB 29/06/2009

Philip Byrne heo transfer in 12/01/2009

kenneth shanley eo transfer in 26/01/2009

Jim casey engineer grade i transfer in 23/02/2009

richeal duffy engineer grade iii transfer in 23/02/2009

sTAFF

obair - June 2009 31

aideen cusack heo transfer in 02/03/2009

catherine kennedy heo transfer in 18/05/2009

Josephine lawless heo transfer out 02/01/2009

ronan mclaughlin eo transfer out 09/01/2009

Brendan doherty eo transfer out 23/01/2009

Paul kinahan co transfer out 30/01/2009

yvonne nolan eo transfer out 27/02/2009

We also remember our friend and colleague susan smith who sadly died in may 2009

PuBlIshed By

office of PuBlic Works, 51 st.stePhen’s green, duBlin 2, ireland

tel: 353 0 647 6000 / email: in

fo@oPW.ie / WWW.oPW.ie