The reclamations shown on our proposals include:
(a) Reclaiming some 780 acres of Merrion Strand;
(b) An extension of Fairview Park across the railway.
These are put forward as extensions to be put in hand at some future date, by far the more important being that under (a).
The effect of these reclamation works on the currents outside Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Harbours would, of course, have to be fully investigated.
We have had the opportunity of examining some facts and considerations put forward among responsible officials as to the possibilities at Merrion, and our proposals are on a more modest scale than those which appear to have been discussed up to the present.
In regard to (a), we propose that a sea wall be built extending from White Bank (about 800 yards East of the Pigeonhouse Electricity Works) to Merrion. The stretch which would thus be reclaimed is all uncovered at low water and would necessitate a wall 3,700 yards long which would cost at £75 per yard, £277,000. The reclaimed land would cover about 780 acres, i.e., the cost of walling per acre reclaimed would be about £355.
Of the 780 acres reclaimed, a 440 yards strip along the river wall, covering about 200 acres, would be reserved for industrial use, and the remaining 580 acres would form one of the three large Metropolitan Parks. In regard to the walling, it is a matter of investigation as to whether this should be done by pumping through a pipe line over the Pigeon House Wall and/or by the dumping of clean filling from the city. The work would, of course, cover a period (possibly a long period) of years, and it is our view that the total cost per acre would be fully justified by the proximity of the newly-acquired land and its convenience to the centre of the city. Bathing facilities could be provided in substitution for those existing at Sandymount.
As to (b) - the Fairview reclamation - the area shown is tentative, and is green on the map. This does not indicate that the whole of this area need be reserved as a public open space. The user of part of it would, we suggest, be decided later.
