University fees hike controversy
In the meantime, no hard decision is required and we kick this thorny issue down the road yet again.
Sound familiar? – Yours, etc,
EAMONN BYRNE,
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Dublin 15.
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘Amazing' plans for Dublin's Sheriff Street include offices and a hotel. Amazing for whom?
For generations, communities in Dublin 1 have been neglected, under-resourced and are now dealing with a wave of incongruous development that prioritises hotels, offices and luxury student accommodation over communities' needs. Nevertheless, Dublin 1 represents the beating heart of life in the capital, along with the Liberties in Dublin 8. These are areas that hold our stories, culture and character. Residents, businesses and social spaces can trace their roots across centuries, alongside the immigrant communities now contributing hugely to contemporary culture. Dublin 1 and Dublin 8 offer examples of what bustling, diverse urban ecosystems actually look like when, as the urbanist Jane Jacobs put it, they encapsulate the 'sidewalk ballet' of functioning street life. Some of the few streets in the capital that can authentically claim to reflect the essential features of what Jacobs described as the 'marvellous order' under 'the seeming disorder', are in both postcodes, including Parnell Street in Dublin 1, and Meath Street in Dublin 8. In a recent article in the Business Post, the chief executive of An Post and chair of the Dublin City Taskforce, David McRedmond, declared: 'Dublin 1 can become one of Europe's most happening neighbourhoods.' This statement ignores the area's existing vibrant culture and community. Happening for whom? READ MORE 'If we transform the core, there are other amazing adjacent plans such as Ballymore's to completely rebuild the Sheriff St area from Amiens Street to Spencer Dock,' McRedmond wrote. 'Amazing' is subjective. These plans include large office blocks and a hotel, along with build-to-rent apartments. So, 'amazing' for whom? Statements about rebuilding the Sheriff Street area can come across as insensitive because of the context of how the needs of the area were generally disregarded during the development of the IFSC. That left a legacy of existential fear within the community that it might be bulldozed once more. In a follow-up interview with the Dublin Inquirer, McRedmond said he was referring to plans about public space, and would 'hate to think that anyone would feel in any way insecure about their homes'. But, fundamentally, the future of this area should not be about more commercial development and expensive apartments, which few people in Dublin 1 can afford, but a grassroots approach that extends across public housing, amenities and facilities that meet the social, cultural and economic needs and aspirations of this unique part of the capital and those who live there. Underserved and under-resourced communities are not development opportunities. Cities are also about streets. It's unfortunate that so much contemporary development across the city results in hostile architecture that sucks life out of places, when we could instead be focusing on streetscapes with a sense of place and human-scale architecture. This cuts to the heart of conversations about 'regeneration' in Dublin 1. When it comes to 'potential', we have to differentiate between what is shared urban space presenting opportunities for all, and what looks like displacement through corporate gentrification. Ambitious plans with vision need to happen. For neighbourhoods, that's about listening, not declaring. In landmark buildings, it's about a coherent mission and purpose. This brings us to the GPO on O'Connell Street. First of all, it is unfortunate that parts of the building – over 75 per cent of it currently vacant – have not already been utilised as short-term cultural use in a city starved of both community centres and spaces for artists and collectives to meet, work and create. Secondly, the Government's recent communication about 'mixed-use' incorporating retail and offices raised more questions than it answered. If you don't actually have a plan, don't toss out something vague and random. It's no wonder the vacuum was then filled with outrage about the building's historic importance being undermined. The GPO should become neither shopping mall nor commercial offices. It represents a brilliant opportunity to create a landmark engine of creativity for Dublin that can inspire and facilitate generations to come. By creating something that both reflects and hosts contemporary Dublin – while taking inspiration from the positive aspects of entities such as the Southbank Centre in London, Factory International in Manchester, Kulturbrauerei in Berlin, Viernulvier in Ghent (and I could go on) – an ambitious, inclusive project would transform cultural activity in the city, alongside the Dublin Port Company's plans for the Artist Campus. The building's historic significance can also be preserved and expressed with a museum of revolution on its ground floor, which could also include a people's canteen. In tandem, Aldborough House – vacant, and on An Taisce's list of most-at-risk buildings, despite it being one of the finest Georgian buildings in the capital – should become a community and cultural space specifically for the communities of Dublin 1. The GPO is O'Connell Street's gem. We should be aspiring to create a world-class centre of culture, for and by the people. Let our diverse communities lead neighbourhood development and let artists inform the opportunity the GPO presents – just as so many of them urged our republic from the realm of the imagination into reality.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Irish house prices continue to rise and pharma's tariff options
Irish house prices continue rise despite the negative sentiment about Donald Trump's tariffs and what impact it might have on the Irish economy. owned by The Irish Times, said asking prices nationally rose by more than 7 per cent annually in the second quarter while the Dublin increase was above 5 per cent. Barry O'Halloran reports. Barry also has the details of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's letter to the motor industry, warning it intends to crack down on attempts to stop drivers from using independent garages for repairs. Dealers could face fines of up to €50 million for breaches of competition law. It has long been conventional wisdom that a boss who is prepared to reveal fear, uncertainty or some other form of uselessness is in luck, writes Pilita Clark. It's thought they will be more trusted and respected, especially by younger staff who are said to yearn for 'authenticity', and are therefore more valuable to an organisation. There is a strong logic for US pharma companies to continue making drugs in Ireland for non-US markets, writes our columnist John FitzGerald, as he explores the potential impact of Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on the sector here. READ MORE In our Q&A, a reader wonders if Prize Bonds are a good investment. Dominic Coyle offers a view. If you'd like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers. In Me & My Money, author Eimear McBride explains how her 'pension plan is to die before I'm no longer able to earn'. She spoke with Tony Clayton-Lea. The Changing Times Brewery, which was founded by the families behind some of Dublin's best-known pubs , is expanding the number of premises serving its beers and moving outside the capital for the first time. Colin Gleeson has the details. In a wide-ranging interview, EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou talks to Mark Hennessy about his new North-South awards aimed at fostering cross-Border entrepreneurship, his Irish family members, and his relationship with Ryanair's Michael O'Leary. Tesco plans to add 400 new jobs here as part of a €40 million investment to expand its operations with the opening of 10 new stores over the next 12 months. Barry O'Halloran has the details. In our Opinion piece, Bank of Ireland executive Susan Russell says the EU could crack down on fake digital ads by forcing online platforms to ensure they are dealing with a reputable entity, especially as they earn income from these scam ads. BP's woes persist in spite of talk of a takeover by Shell , which the company has denied. Stocktake offers a view.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
A Revolut user encounters ‘evasive' customer service after €1,850 fraud
On May 22nd a reader's mother, a woman in her 70s, contacted Vodafone Ireland to report poor wifi and was promised a call back from a technician. The following day the call she was expecting came – or so she thought – but what happened next has left her traumatised and substantially poorer. The caller referenced the wifi issue 'and said she was eligible for a refund,' her son writes. 'She was sent a text link and asked to click it to 'verify' the refund.' She did as she was asked to do by the person claiming to be from Vodafone but after following the link and inputting some key details her banking app was compromised, her Revolut account remotely accessed and €1,850 sent to a sterling account in the UK. READ MORE 'She immediately reported it to Revolut, Vodafone, and An Garda Síochána, submitting screenshots of all the suspicious activity, a signed statement and the full context of the scam,' her son writes. He tells us that she was asked by Revolut 'to upload this same dossier five times [and] Revolut never called her, despite promising to'. He describes Revolut's support system as 'opaque and evasive, consisting of scripted replies and AI loops, with no clear case management or human escalation'. He says that when he asked 'a basic admin question – what documents are needed to file a fraud report in Ireland – they refused to answer, citing GDPR, even though I never asked about her account,' he says. [ 'Sorry you lost the money': Couple loses thousands of euro of wedding savings in Revolut 'ordeal' Opens in new window ] He also says Vodafone has 'not yet explained how someone knew about the wifi complaint and used that to engineer the scam'. Our reader points out that the funds 'were sent to another Revolut account, raising questions about their fraud controls and whether the funds were frozen. 'At this point, we just want honest answers and a fair process. My mum has done everything asked of her, but she's getting nowhere – and it feels like the system is built to exhaust people into giving up.' He says that 'everything is handled by bots with repeated requests for the same info, vague timelines, and generic cut-and-paste responses. Even now, weeks later, she still hasn't received a proper update, and it's genuinely shaken her confidence in using digital banking at all. It's an insane system and the fact you can't talk to a human is ludicrous.' He says that when Revolut wanted his business account, 'the office would receive regular phone calls and emails from reps looking for the business. How could they not provide the same support to existing clients? Has Revolut quietly built a wall between customers and accountability?' There are two troubling strands to this scam. Did the criminals know she had contacted Vodafone and were able to time their first contact with her to coincide with the exact time she was expecting a call from that company? And why are the systems that Revolut have in place so opaque and why has it proved to be impossible for this family to speak to a human being or even get a sense that Revolut is addressing this issue with the seriousness that it deserves? First we contacted Vodafone and shared the details of this scam with them. The company checked its systems and said that there was no evidence of a data breach on its side and a spokesman could not definitively say how it was that our reader – or at least their mother – would receive a call purporting to be from Vodafone less than 24 hours after she had contacted the company. It could be simple coincidence. Scammers make many, many such calls everyday and they must sometimes get lucky. We also contacted Revolut. In a statement the company said it was sorry for this person's experience 'and any instance where our customers are targeted by ruthless and sophisticated criminals. Revolut takes fraud, and the industry-wide risk of customers being coerced by organised criminals, incredibly seriously. Each potential fraud case concerning a Revolut customer is carefully investigated and assessed independently of other cases.' The statement stresses that it has 'a fervent focus on improving the customer experience at Revolut, and the protection of our customers' money is paramount to that. We provide customer support 24/7 in-app via chat because it is the most secure method to communicate with customers, and helps to ensure that they can be certain they are connected with a member of our team. 'Any reported fraud automatically triggers human intervention from our customer service team, ensuring a user's case is handled by skilled live agents with expertise in financial crime.' It said that in recent months it had introduced in-app calls 'to give users a secure way to engage with our customer service team over the phone and help them to expose phone call scams.' Revolut said that last year it had prevented more than €700 million in potential fraud against customers by implementing in-app calls, real-time AI fraud-detection systems, transaction limits, in-app warnings and delayed payments for suspicious transactions, biometric authentication requirements, and providing educational resources to help consumers remain informed about potential risks. 'Revolut's financial crime prevention team now represents almost a third of our global workforce and, alongside many other payments firms, we deploy a number of different interventions that are solely designed to 'break the spell' of scammers and fraudsters,' it said. 'Whilst Revolut is unable to comment on the specifics of these interventions, so as to not provide any insight that could help ruthless criminals socially engineer their victims and bypass these, we are constantly innovating and testing a range of eye-catching warnings. 'While we are fully determined to protect our customers as best we can through our fraud prevention technologies, and go to every length to ensure scams are avoided, there is no denying that fraud is an industry-wide issue that needs to be tackled at source, particularly by the telecoms companies and social media apps that are enabling this. Banks and financial institutions should be the last line of defence, not the only line of defence.' The story does have a happier-than-expected outcome. Initially the company wrote to her and outlined its processes and the steps it had taken to prevent any suspicious transactions taking place before determining that it was not at fault and as such no money would be refunded. A day later we heard back from our reader again. 'You won't believe this. We went from that email yesterday to my mother getting her cash paid back today.' In a letter the company sent to her a representative said that 'upon further investigation of your case, we have identified a mistake in how it was previously handled. Subsequently, we have reclassified the situation as an account-takeover fraud and organised a full reimbursement of €1891.50 along with €150 as a compensation for the stress caused by the whole situation. The payment was sent directly to your Revolut account.'
