The battle for the Dublin skyline is well and truly on as developer Johnny Ronan recently submitted plans to Dublin City Council for a 44-storey docklands development.

The "hanging gardens"- themed proposal will be a 50/50 residential and commercial development, and could reportedly provide 1,000 homes, offices, shops, hotels, rooftop parks, and indeed a ''sky garden'' with greenery falling down the internal and external spaces.

Does Dublin need to get real about our housing crisis and build upwards, or could the implications of such worsen the situation? 

We spoke with Lord Mayor Niall Ring and author and former environment editor with the Irish Times.