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Greystones (Na Clocha Liatha in Irish) is a coastal town in County Wicklow, Ireland, just south of Bray. Greystones has two beaches. The North Beach at the harbour is a stony beach and some of its length is ovelooked by the ever-eroding cliffs of Bray head (south). The second beach is to the south of the 'grey stones'. It is a sandy beach and extends to about a half mile long. It is quite an expansive beach and very lovely. Greystones now has the southern terminal station of the DART line. The town is surrounded by the Irish sea to the East, Bray Head to the North and the Wicklow Mountains to the West.
Greystones is a dormitory town with many of its residents working in the nearby city of Dublin and has experienced a huge increase in its population since the 1970s, with the construction of several large housing estates. As of the national census of 2002, Greystones had a population of 10,303 with a further 1,610 in its environs, making it the second largest town in County Wicklow. The population is expected to have risen by 60% by the time of next census, largely as a result of the construction of Charlesland, a new housing project just south of the town with over 1,000 dwelling units. Today (early 2006), the population is estimated at 15,000.
Politics
Greystones is part of the Ireland East EU constituency and the Wicklow Dáil constituency. In local government Greystones has four councillors on Wicklow County Council. It has a town council with nine councillors, headed by the Mayor. Though it is larger in population than Arklow and Wicklow towns, Greystones has been limited to Town Council status while its two smaller neighbours enjoy Urban District status, which gives them greater autonomy and control of their own finances. Expect this to generate growing passion as the exploding over-population soon makes it the most populous town in the county.
The population of Greystones has expanded greatly over the last 25 years but in recent times continuing residential development have generated concerns amongst residents that they threaten to destroy the beautiful Greystones landscape and add more people for which, they consider,the town cannot cater for. While housing developments are always under construction in the area, the road networks and nearby facilities have been moderately improved to some extent in recent years. The road between Greystones and Bray has been widened and realigned,however,completion of a new connecting dual carriageway ("the road to nowhere") to the N11 has been delayed by the presence of an illegal landfill in its path. A temporary connection is scheduled to come into operation in the Spring of 2006.
Currently the most topical issue in the small town is the proposed €300 million redevelopment scheme for Greystones harbour, which includes a proposed 375 apartments, to be built by the Sispar consortium. Many of the local people, many of whom have lived in Greystones for over 20 years, oppose this project. Over 3,000 objections to it have been lodged with the Planning Appeals Board, An Bord Pleanala. The main problem is its scale, which threatens to turn the area into some sort of cheaper version of Benidorm, with an excessive number of high-rise apartments, etc. A redevelopment plan for the harbour has always been welcome, but this proposal is over the top, and the council and developers are fools if they think the decent people of Greystones are in favour of it.Greystones Marina
Interesting fact
Greystones became part of television history in 1995 when its Ormonde cinema featured in an episode of the Channel 4 television comedy show Father Ted entitled 'The Passion Of St Tibulus'.
Residents
Greystones and its environs (including Delgany) are home to several Irish ""celebrities"" including:
- Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners
- Dustin The Turkey formerly of Irish TV children's show The Den, now seen on Dustin's Daily News
- Damien Rice Irish singer/songwriter
- Donncha O'Toole Session Guitar player, once toured with Pink Floyd
- Eamonn de Buitlear, renowned wildlife film maker and naturalist
Sport
The town has a plentiful supply of local clubs and caters for many sporting needs. Greystones Tennis, Rugby and GAA clubs are located on the Mill Road at the south end of the town and offer well-equipped and modern facilities. The town also has a successful soccer club, Greystones United FC, which is based near the harbour.
Eire Og Greystones GAA club is one of many community sports clubs in the town. The club caters for men and women of all ages and also a growing social membership. The club has teams playing in Wicklow League and Championship competitions in Gaelic Football, Hurling and Ladies Football. A new clubhouse, to cater for the growing membership in the club and in the wider community, is under construction at a cost of €1.2m. It is hoped to have this substantially completed in 2006. The club has two playing pitches but is trying to gain new lands in the near future to provide more .