AROUND THE BLOCK: DÚN LAOGHAIRE looks positively Continental on sunny weekends, what with everyone sipping their cappuccinos outside Itsabagel and Real Gourmet Burger or munching something from Mao on the outdoor terraces of restaurants on the Metals. That's the laneway that runs between the railway line and the ground floor of the Pavilion complex and now the space is being expanded by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Work has already started on the project, which eventually will provide a verdant elevated space running over the railway line across to the stretch of coast road that runs from the town hall to Teddy’s ice cream shop. The plan is to develop a linear park and alfresco dining area and for once, hardly anyone is arguing about it.

An Taisce is concerned about the way some toothed iron railings are being cut up and dumped. But apart from that, there seems to be agreement that the council’s plan to create a public place for people’s enjoyment is a good thing.

Pity that it cannot seem to agree on a plan for the long disused ferry terminal and for the foreshore area which was to have been the site for an ambitious public private partnership development but which meanwhile grows seedier by the day.