Blanchardstown

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Blanchardstown (Baile Bhlainséir in Irish) is a growing outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located 10km north-west of Dublin City. The area covers most of the An Post postal district Dublin 15.It is administered by Fingal County Council whose headquarters are located in Swords where council meetings are held monthly. However the Council does operate a local Blanchardstown office adjacent to the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre where most local government needs can be addressed. The Council's transportation department operates exclusively from the Blanchardstown office. Local planning decisions are also made by Planners based in this local office.

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[edit] Etymology

The town's name means "estate of a family called Blanchard, an Anglo-Norman surname. The name was recorded in 1385 as villa de Blanchard.

[edit] Population

The 2006 Census recorded a population of 90,952 in Blanchardstown and its immediate environs. However, if the greater area is included this figure is much larger and the area is on a par with cities like Galway and Limerick, although with much worse facilities.

[edit] Amenities

[edit] Education and business

The suburb is the location of Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown as well as some prominent multinational companies like IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Symantec and eBay.

[edit] Transport

Blanchardstown suffers from ongoing traffic problems because of a severe lack of public transportation and from the use of the area by people from many miles away as a short cut or parking zone. The bus service is totally inadequate, resulting in long waits at bus stops and overcrowded buses. The train service is so bad that it can be difficult to get on trains as they pass the local Castleknock bridge station. The village itself is used by rat-running traffic routinely.

The area is located just beyond the M50, lying just past one of the main junctions on the orbital motorway, slightly to the north of the tolled crossing of the River Liffey. This junction is routinely clogged with traffic.

Most areas in Blanchardstown are still served by the same bus networks (routes 38 and 39) that have been in place since the 1970s, when its population was a fraction of what it is today. Although some concessions have been made with plans to electrify the current rail service (something that was suggested almost 15 years ago), and the extension of the METRO line (due sometime in 2012), it seems too little, too late. A proposal for a metro link to the Swords and Tallaght will fail to solve the area's problems as demand for transortation is radial (into Dublin city) and this will not be assisted.

The average journey time for the 6 mile trip to the city centre for most commuters from the greater Blanchardstown area peaks at up to 2 hours, which is disproportionately higher than the European average. This same journey took 30 minutes in 1970. Curiously, of the two more frequent services running to and from Blanchardstown, only one goes through the shopping centre. The buses that pass through the Blanchardstown centre are the 39, 39c, 39x, 236, 237, 239, 70, 76a, 220 and 270. The 38 bus comes into quite a close location without having to enter the actual centre. The privately owned URBus also travels through the centre going to and from Swords via Dublin Airport. The majority of delays in the area occur close to the village of Blanchardstown and the by-pass, perhaps due to low road capacity.

[edit] Clubs and Societies

[edit] See also

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[edit] External links

[edit] References


Coordinates: 53°23′N, 6°23′Wde:Blanchardstown fr:Blanchardstown ga:Baile Bhlainséir nl:Blanchardstown

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