Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald

Contributor

Frank McDonald, a contributor to The Irish Times, is the newspaper's former environment editor. He also writes about architecture and urban planning. His books include The Destruction of Dublin, The Construction of Dublin, and A Little History of the Future of Dublin.

Rebuilding Notre-Dame: ‘Making beautiful things is what Paris does better than anywhere in the world’

The landmark’s extraordinarily speedy restoration could well become president Emmanuel Macron’s most enduring legacy

Frank McDonald: Dublin Castle hasn’t deserved its shabby treatment. Can we finally do it justice?

As a potent piece of Ireland’s history, the castle is truly a national treasure. We should handle it with a lot more care

The Papal Cross, Sam Stephenson’s Central Bank and 29 other eye-catching examples of Dublin’s modern architecture

More Than Concrete Blocks: Volume 3, about Dublin’s 20th-century buildings and their stories, marks the end of a 12-year ‘epic journey’

Frank McDonald: Dublin needs a Georgian house museum worthy of its rich heritage

Dublin is now far outclassed by the way cities such as Edinburgh present their Georgian histories – and the ESB’s proposed replacement doesn’t pass muster

Frank McDonald: It may soon be too late to do anything about some Airbnb lets

While plans to regulate the sector are delayed, anyone who can produce documentary evidence that they’ve been an Airbnb host for seven years or more will be in the clear

‘The tenants are our talent’: Meet the Dublin landlord putting the traders first

George’s Street Arcade owner Gwen Layden is more like a curator, nurturing a mix of businesses to ensure the Victorian shopping centre remains diverse

We are sleepwalking our way towards a deeply dysfunctional, inequitable and unbalanced Ireland

Frank McDonald: Dublin’s runaway growth is bad for the rest of the country, and worse for Dublin

Is this Ireland’s most elegant drawingroom?

‘A captivating vision of a bygone era’: Russborough House to open restored Vernet Drawing Room this week

Anglo Irish Bank’s old Dublin HQ is due for demolition. We shouldn’t let this award-winner disappear

Frank McDonald: The building, designed by the Irish architect Andy Devane, has stood the test of time

Killing kitsch with blandness: planned ‘rejuvenation’ of St Stephen’s Green shopping centre is anything but

The controversial facade of the shopping centre on St Stephen’s Green is set to disappear, but will its replacement improve Dublin’s visual fabric or does the city need yet more offices?

Frank McDonald: New Planning Bill empowers developers and weakens citizens

Local authorities’ role will be reduced to giving effect to national policy, and decisions will be harder to challenge in court

MetroLink could jeopardise the real missing link in Dublin’s transport plans

Underground link between Heuston Station and Spencer Dock should take priority over Metro to Airport

Government getting ready to bail out the developers again

Construction of high-rise, high-density apartments has become ‘economically unviable’

Kildare’s Riverstown House takes top prize in conservation awards

Irish Georgian Society’s Conservation Awards are back, after a three-year hiatus

‘Joyful little buildings that aim to please’

A new book pays tribute to the work done to rescue and restore follies across Ireland