Outside the box: Should we move the Irish capital to Athlone?
A series of radical ideas to stir debate in Ireland about improving the quality of life.
The Proposal: Move the political and administrative capital of Ireland to the midlands town of Athlone.
The logic: Dublin has nearly 30% of the population of the republic. Not only is it creating unbalanced regional development, but Dublin simply doesn’t need the additional economic activity that comes with being the capital. But move all that capital associated economic activity to a less-developed region, and that economic activity boosts that region. It would be the Ardnacrusha of the 21st century.
The details: Athlone is close to the centre of the nation, and situated on the Shannon could easily allow a larger purpose built city be built around it. This could include a high-speed rail link to Dublin, an international airport, a new University of The Midlands, all government departments, the Supreme Court, all the embassies and the Oireachtas. The creation of a new purpose-built renewable energy powered urban centre, like Canberra or Brasilia, would allow for dense high-rise housing and an integrated transport system allowing for a low-car use city.
The Pros:
It would free up housing and high-value property in Dublin, which could be sold to assist in funding the project.
It would allow for the transfer of thousands of public servants.
It would redirect morning traffic from Kildare/Meath away from Dublin towards Athlone.
As the project would be so huge, it would allow other large projects to be included including perhaps a new national prison, refugee reception centres and power plant.
It would inject billions into the region in spending, and allow for dense high rise accommodation.
Dublin would actually benefit from the transfer of economic activity.
Galway’s proximity to a new dense urban centre would allow it to benefit too.
The new parliament could be built with the concept of it serving as the capital of a United Ireland.
The creation of a purpose-built city would allow for inward direct investors to play a role in the city’s design, again redirecting more economic activity to the region and especially with both a high-speed rail link to Dublin and an international airport for freight.
The Cons:
It would be very expensive, and would probably be a 25 year project.
Even though it would involve building currently needed public housing, hospitals and other infrastructure, it would put pressure on existing infrastructure and labour supply.
There’s no guarantee the Oireachtas could agree on Athlone or any other location.
It would be a very disruptive project.
It would require the consent of the majority of the political parties and a commitment to the long-term plan.
It would require a national referendum which would be very difficult to pass.