The Irish Times

Dublin Corporation is about to make its most fateful planning decision: whether to approve plans for the National Conference Centre and the massive high-rise development apparently required to support it, on a pivotal 51-acre site in the Docklands area. The decision, which must be made by August 3rd, is certain to involve a grant of permission because the corporation regards the NCC as a "must have" project for the city. But there will be numerous conditions aimed at reducing the scale of the ancillary development. There is enormous anxiety about this £1 billion scheme for Spencer Dock. It is the largest urban development proposal in the history of the State, much larger proportionately than London's Canary Wharf project, with which it has been compared both by critics and supporters.