· Critics say Foster design will ruin Dublin skyline
· Band accused of ignoring impact of rising sea level

Henry McDonald in Dublin
Monday December 3, 2007
The Guardian


Abroad, the biggest rock band on the planet are lauded as the champions of the poor and the conscience of rich nations normally indifferent to global poverty.
But at home in their native Dublin, U2 have become embroiled in a row with Irish environmentalists over two building projects, with Bono and co accused of arrogance.

U2 have also come under fire for moving their music publishing company from the Irish Republic to the continent in order to pay a lower rate of tax on their royalties.


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Ireland's equivalent of the National Trust - An Taisce - has denounced U2's plans to partly demolish and redevelop a hotel they own by the river Liffey in Dublin. An Taisce has also demanded a public inquiry into the new "U2 Tower", which, at 32 storeys, would be the highest building in Ireland.
Sited at the mouth of Dublin Bay, the U2 Tower will be designed by Norman Foster. An Taisce fears it will blight the Georgian cityscape on the southern side of the Liffey.

"Our biggest concern is that the U2 Tower will stick out of the skyline from parts of Georgian Dublin like Merrion Square. It could potentially be an incongruous blot on the skyline on the south side of the city," said Ian Lumley, An Taisce's national heritage officer.

Lumley claimed there was no proper environmental impact survey carried out for the proposed project. Nor, he said, had U2 or the planners taken into consideration one of the band's global concerns: the impact of climate change.

"From the limited information we have seen about the proposed tower there is no consideration being taken into the impact of rising sea levels," he added. "This tower is at the mouth of Dublin Bay and yet no provision has been made as to the effect of rising sea levels on an entire area earmarked for more residential living as well as businesses. For all these reasons there has to be an independent public inquiry before this project is allowed to go ahead."

Further down the Liffey there is more controversy about another U2-owned property, The Clarence hotel, which the band revitalised thanks in part to a tax-exemption scheme in the 1990s aimed at reviving the entire Temple Bar district.

U2 plans a €150m (£100m) revamp of The Clarence, which Bono has promised will turn it into one of the most spectacular hotels in Europe. This project has been criticised by An Taisce and veteran environmentalist Mike Smith.

Smith accused U2 of acting arrogantly over the Clarence plan. He warned that if Ireland's planning authority, An Bord Pleanála, allowed the scheme to go through he would go to court to halt it.

"Since 2000 Ireland has had strong protection for listed buildings which are now called 'protected structures'," Smith said. "In the case of The Clarence the developers' belief that there is an exceptional need to pander to international five-star punters' alleged insistence on underground parking and swimming pools is unlikely to pass muster ... If An Bord Pleanála say yes I will go straight to the high court to block what U2 are planning."

He was also scathing of U2's decision to move part of its music operations out of Ireland to the Netherlands, and added: "The common good is not served by allowing the richest people in Ireland to build with the benefit of tax incentives, which is what happened to Temple Bar and The Clarence, only to demolish when they get bored," Smith added.

A spokesman for The Clarence hotel project said that it would encourage investment in the city. "It will help the Irish economy to retain its reputation as progressive and sustainable by providing facilities and services to business and tourism clientele as well as local residents," he added.

[music.guardian.co.uk]

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El mejor presidente de la historia del Madrid:

1 - Franco (6 copas de europa y el robo de Di Stefano)
2 - Aznar (3 copas de europa y 80.000 millones gratis)



José María García:"A mí no me ha echado nadie de la radio, me fui por mi propia voluntad, pero sí es cierto que el PP, y muy especialmente don José María Aznar, tienen una tremenda culpabilidad de esta situación. La barbaridad democrática que se ha cometido con el Real Madrid no es propia de un país civilizado ni de un partido serio. José María Aznar ha ayudado sin límite, y él sabrá por qué, a Florentino. Yo un buen día fui a decirle a su despacho que lo que estaban haciendo rebasaba cualquier estado de justicia. Por toda respuesta me dijo "tengo que ayudar al Madrid". Le respondí, "no, presidente, tienes que ayudar al Madrid, al Barcelona, al Valencia, al Celta y al Orihuela, porque eres el presidente de España". Contar punto por punto, y lamento porque dicen que hay cientos de preguntas, muchas de las cosas que se han hecho, nos llevaría no horas, días, un libro, dos libros, lo que pasa es que yo creo, aunque a lo mejor es una presunción mía, que todavía no estoy para escribir mis memorias, pero que José María Aznar y su gobierno y sus ministros y su secretario de Estado y sus presidentes de comunidad y sus alcaldes hayan permitido, por ejemplo, que Caja Madrid cree una empresa con un capital social de 500.000 pesetas para prestarle al día siguiente al Real Madrid 10.000 millones de pesetas con los que el Real Madrid le quita al conjunto catalán a Luis Figo... Con toda la razón del mundo, el Barcelona estará solicitando ayuda de sus políticos más próximos."