The Irish Times

To read what some commentators have written about An Bord Pleanála's landmark decision to refuse planning permission for the massive development proposed for Spencer Dock, you might think that Ireland was mindlessly turning its back on the 21st century. Yet the decision, and the mammoth planning inspectors' report that informed it, implied nothing of the sort. In fact, if anything, it was a vindication of architecture and urban design in the context of a European capital city - and few architects practising in Dublin or anywhere else in Ireland would disagree with it.