A new town in North Dublin could house around 15,000 people. 

Dublin City Council has published a plan to build a substantial number of homes in an area in between Glasnevin, Cabra and Finglas.

The town of Baile Bogáin/Ballyboggan would see 6,000 new homes built on the site and Adjunct Associate Professor of Town Planning at UCD Tom Phillips described it as “positive overall”. 

“The average residential unit in Ireland is 2.7 people per unit, so that’s 15,000 people,” he told Newstalk Breakfast. 

“It’s comparable to major towns in Ireland. 

“If you look at the number of towns in Ireland with more than 5,000 people, you’d only need one page.

“So, it’s a major initiative.” 

House building. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images.

A public consultation opened yesterday and submissions run until May 12th. 

Professor Phillips said that some have already queried why the new building would have a maximum height of eight stories. 

“Many people might say, ‘That’s more than enough’ but for others, it shows some lack of ambition,” he said. 

“Why would you ever cap something at eight stories beside a rail station?

“Some of those people, I’ve noticed, are architects; they are just saying that capping something at eight stories in this day and age is very low. 

“Particularly when you look at other areas in the city… and then the problem is, once it’s set in stone, it’s very difficult to change.” 

A housing development in Newbridge, County Kildare. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

Professor Phillips added that the impact of the development on the Dublin Industrial Estate, which currently occupies the land, needs to be taken into account. 

“It’s in essence between Cabra and Finglas in an area that’s an industrial estate that is not acting at full capacity - that’s the first issue,” he said. 

“Because all of the people inside it who are operating it might be saying, ‘Well, this is my business, what am I going to do?’

“I think a criticism I would have of the plan is it’s not very strong on what’s going to happen to those who are displaced.” 

The Government has pledged to build an extra 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030.

Main image: A house under construction. Picture by: Alamy.com