Anyone else regret buying their home in DONABATE?
Over the past 10 years or so, DONABATE has gone through a dramatic change, from a friendly, quiet, nice, safe place to live to living amongst knacker teenagers and parents, speeding drivers, scumbag drug dealers, summer influx of Rough caravan owners (most are ok but there are some real nasty knackers), living in a building site due to massive house building (and drop in house prices), crippling traffic (can take 45 minutes to get out of the village although new relief road might help), Drug centres, ineffective local councillors that make no real impact or change, poor transport links. You expect when you pay in excess of half a million euro on your home to live in a relative nice area, but unfortunately this is not the case.
Locals will babble on about how nice DONABATE is like to live in, they are living in a dream land....hindsight is a wonderful thing....be warned prospective home buyers...
Regret Buying Home in DONABATE?
Been here 15 years and I've never been so glad to get the likes of Beresford and Rahillion in our community. Sure our local politicians have dumped us in it and we've had to put up with an almighty load of crap but already these estates have melted right in to the community. Everywhere in Dublin is getting built up and out it's what happens in a city, we're lucky that we have a community that actually gives a damn. Get up to the community centre on Wednesday and have your voice heard is all I can say!
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Summersunshine
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Some quite offensive language against certain indivduals. Whilst Donabate has its flaws it has lots that other places don't. Maybe the quicker you move on the better. I'm sure you won't be missed in the community
No, I do not regret buying in Donabate.
I'm from Donegal originally & have seen a lot of drugs, violence there & have yet to see any in Donabate.
I'm living in Donabate for a year now & ive found the following positives:
- always got on the train (and a seat on school holidays)
- love doing the park run on a Saturday morning
- being 26-30 mins to Connolly.
- never witnessed any violence (although, gangs of youths, with Garda ushering them on)
- never had road traffic issues.
- my girlfriend has found the commute to swords very easy.
- incredibly friendly, community centric people
- beach
- newbridge
- 3h to donegal
Name another suburb of Dublin where you'll get the same value with the same transport link to city centre?
Before buying, I was looking at much smaller units in Beaumont or Clongriffin. I absolutely stand by my decision to buy in Donabate.
I'm from Donegal originally & have seen a lot of drugs, violence there & have yet to see any in Donabate.
I'm living in Donabate for a year now & ive found the following positives:
- always got on the train (and a seat on school holidays)
- love doing the park run on a Saturday morning
- being 26-30 mins to Connolly.
- never witnessed any violence (although, gangs of youths, with Garda ushering them on)
- never had road traffic issues.
- my girlfriend has found the commute to swords very easy.
- incredibly friendly, community centric people
- beach
- newbridge
- 3h to donegal
Name another suburb of Dublin where you'll get the same value with the same transport link to city centre?
Before buying, I was looking at much smaller units in Beaumont or Clongriffin. I absolutely stand by my decision to buy in Donabate.
I swear to God it almost put me off buying here.
Biggest concern was the trains, but never a bother. Rarely get a seat on the way to city, always get one on way home...
Donabate still great. Nothing but negativity. So many have written off Semple Woods, but I've heard many say they love living there...
People love writing shite on the internet....
Well i've heard the Gaurds have let it be known that they will be pulling any cars they see doing the illegal right turns in and out of Semple Woods. All very positive !! Donabate is only at the start of major development. The new distributor road has opened up hundreds of acres for development so people may get used to disruption for the next 10 -15 years. It's going to be relentless. It's relentless as it is already with many jobs going on around the clock (contrary to planning conditions). But this will be always ignored by FCC. This i know from experience.albert wrote: ↑18 Jan 2020, 23:02I swear to God it almost put me off buying here.
Biggest concern was the trains, but never a bother. Rarely get a seat on the way to city, always get one on way home...
Donabate still great. Nothing but negativity. So many have written off Semple Woods, but I've heard many say they love living there...
People love writing shite on the internet....
Before buying, I was looking at much smaller units in Beaumont or Clongriffin. I absolutely stand by my decision to buy in Donabate.
Completely agree with this-we were looking at a house in kildare at the time we bought here. 2/3 the size and would have had a good 20 min drive to s train station. Same house sold for 20k less 2 years ago! We've the best neighbours here too so we're 100% happy here. Donabate people do have to stand and be counted though now and have a say in what's going to happen in the future here. Sorry but I have zero faith in FCC and same goes for friends of mine in Skerries, Swords and Malahide the Council just doesn't seem to care across the board .
Completely agree with this-we were looking at a house in kildare at the time we bought here. 2/3 the size and would have had a good 20 min drive to s train station. Same house sold for 20k less 2 years ago! We've the best neighbours here too so we're 100% happy here. Donabate people do have to stand and be counted though now and have a say in what's going to happen in the future here. Sorry but I have zero faith in FCC and same goes for friends of mine in Skerries, Swords and Malahide the Council just doesn't seem to care across the board .
"I've heard the guards have let it be known" That sound like a definite then.Fr Jack wrote: ↑18 Jan 2020, 23:33Well i've heard the Gaurds have let it be known thatalbert wrote: ↑18 Jan 2020, 23:02I swear to God it almost put me off buying here.
Biggest concern was the trains, but never a bother. Rarely get a seat on the way to city, always get one on way home...
Donabate still great. Nothing but negativity. So many have written off Semple Woods, but I've heard many say they love living there...
People love writing shite on the internet....
Christ on a bike. That's great community spirit you are showing there. A real positive. Happy to have your neighbours prosecuted for coming and going from their homes through no fault of their own.
The likes of the Donabate Portrane Community group should be commended for the great work they are doing for pressuring fingal councils decisions. But the bone idle whinging that goes on here from some serves no purpose at all.
Thank you to the posters for their opinion, and respecting mine.
To those recently moved to DONABATE, I, like you now, lived in a nice quiet peaceful development, but in 10+ years, it has changed dramatically, those 3-4 year old kids playing outside your home now, perhaps in 10 years time some may not be so innocent...
The majority of residents and kids in DONABATE are decent respectable people, but it only takes a few scumbag knackers to take a development/area down.
Does anyone else remember it was our local teenagers who wrecked newbridge toilets at the playground? Or do you remember the local teenagers who burnt down the chemist at the school? Or perhaps you don’t remember the gangs of knackers roaming around DONABATE engaged in anti social activity?
If anyone hasn’t seen anti social behaviour, just walk through the village from 5pm most evenings, especially at weekends, god love those residents that live very close to the village.
When you ask your neighbours to stop speeding in your development where your kids plays and your neighbours tell you to F off and speed away, that’s not my idea of a nice respectable neighbour.
Or when driving through your development and the 10-11 year olds on the road just stand there and look at you like “what, do you want me to move?” And when you ask them to move, they too tell you to F off, again not my idea of good kids.
Generally, knacker parents have knacker kids.
God only know what will move here when Ballymastone is opened up to 500-700+ social and affordable homes in the coming years, I’m sure most will be decent respectable people, but if only 5% are knackers, then there’ll be quite a few families who will cause trouble, along with the current crop of knackers.
My point above re local councillors, it is good planning practise to have the infrastructure in place before you give the go ahead to new developments, FCC do not join up the dots, does anyone remember when FCC brought in the half marathon?. I do accept that development will continue, but when you have a minority of kids/parents who don’t give a #€&@, then unfortunately everyone suffers. Use your upcoming vote wisely.
I personally spoke to the Guards about anti social behaviour, and without me naming family names to the Guards, the Guards could tell me several families that they knew of and had spoken to regarding their kids behaviour, with some causing criminal damage.
I’d be very cautious walking through the village late at night, always knowing who is around, as I don’t feel totally safe walking through, and I’m a grown male.
So, in my opinion, my move to DONABATE has turned sour, yes other areas have their issues, but just because there are issues, does not mean that respectable nice people have to accept it.
And yes perhaps people wouldn’t miss me if I moved and perhaps I wouldn't miss DONABATE....
To those recently moved to DONABATE, I, like you now, lived in a nice quiet peaceful development, but in 10+ years, it has changed dramatically, those 3-4 year old kids playing outside your home now, perhaps in 10 years time some may not be so innocent...
The majority of residents and kids in DONABATE are decent respectable people, but it only takes a few scumbag knackers to take a development/area down.
Does anyone else remember it was our local teenagers who wrecked newbridge toilets at the playground? Or do you remember the local teenagers who burnt down the chemist at the school? Or perhaps you don’t remember the gangs of knackers roaming around DONABATE engaged in anti social activity?
If anyone hasn’t seen anti social behaviour, just walk through the village from 5pm most evenings, especially at weekends, god love those residents that live very close to the village.
When you ask your neighbours to stop speeding in your development where your kids plays and your neighbours tell you to F off and speed away, that’s not my idea of a nice respectable neighbour.
Or when driving through your development and the 10-11 year olds on the road just stand there and look at you like “what, do you want me to move?” And when you ask them to move, they too tell you to F off, again not my idea of good kids.
Generally, knacker parents have knacker kids.
God only know what will move here when Ballymastone is opened up to 500-700+ social and affordable homes in the coming years, I’m sure most will be decent respectable people, but if only 5% are knackers, then there’ll be quite a few families who will cause trouble, along with the current crop of knackers.
My point above re local councillors, it is good planning practise to have the infrastructure in place before you give the go ahead to new developments, FCC do not join up the dots, does anyone remember when FCC brought in the half marathon?. I do accept that development will continue, but when you have a minority of kids/parents who don’t give a #€&@, then unfortunately everyone suffers. Use your upcoming vote wisely.
I personally spoke to the Guards about anti social behaviour, and without me naming family names to the Guards, the Guards could tell me several families that they knew of and had spoken to regarding their kids behaviour, with some causing criminal damage.
I’d be very cautious walking through the village late at night, always knowing who is around, as I don’t feel totally safe walking through, and I’m a grown male.
So, in my opinion, my move to DONABATE has turned sour, yes other areas have their issues, but just because there are issues, does not mean that respectable nice people have to accept it.
And yes perhaps people wouldn’t miss me if I moved and perhaps I wouldn't miss DONABATE....
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Summersunshine
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In regards to the knacker comments... The only person it reflects poorly on is you.
Judging from the posts could it be possible that the way you approach people is wrong.
As someone living in the village I don't see what you are discussing, but I do feel like you I want what's best for the village. I do think we need to look at the planning in the town and enhance what we have got. Name a place that has what we have like a park like Newbridge, a nature park like Turvey, the beach that we have, cliff walk and hopefully a cycleway whilst having the train that is within most people's walking distances.
I'm not naive and we do need shops, jobs etc and Fingal really need to do more
Last point I'm going to make is what have you done to enhance the place and what is your incessant moaning going to achieve.
Judging from the posts could it be possible that the way you approach people is wrong.
As someone living in the village I don't see what you are discussing, but I do feel like you I want what's best for the village. I do think we need to look at the planning in the town and enhance what we have got. Name a place that has what we have like a park like Newbridge, a nature park like Turvey, the beach that we have, cliff walk and hopefully a cycleway whilst having the train that is within most people's walking distances.
I'm not naive and we do need shops, jobs etc and Fingal really need to do more
Last point I'm going to make is what have you done to enhance the place and what is your incessant moaning going to achieve.
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AleksandraN
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There won’t be any positive change if people will call others knackers. This word represents the quintessence of the issue... hatred, despise and intolerance. Integrate not segregate!
So you're saying local representatives are useless, planning is poor, traffic is bad and a minority of people engage in antisocial behaviour...you could be talking about anywhere. Best thing is to sell up and move on and take a real hard look at where you move to - let us all know when you find somewhere with excellent local representatives, high quality planning, light traffic and no antisocial behaviour. I'm guessing it won't be in Dublin.
Hi all,
As a potential buyer in Donabate, looking to close on sale in the coming weeks, should I really be worried about these threads that keep popping up regarding the goings on in Donabate?
It's starting to worry us a bit. We are buying a house close to village, not in an estate but reading all of these threads is freaking me out!
Is it really that bad or is this forum just becoming a place for people to vent/rant/air negativity?
As a potential buyer in Donabate, looking to close on sale in the coming weeks, should I really be worried about these threads that keep popping up regarding the goings on in Donabate?
It's starting to worry us a bit. We are buying a house close to village, not in an estate but reading all of these threads is freaking me out!
Is it really that bad or is this forum just becoming a place for people to vent/rant/air negativity?
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diggerbarnes
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Happiness writes white. Don't be put off by the overarching negativity, Donabate's a great place to live.
This.Matsugawa wrote: ↑20 Jan 2020, 00:05 So you're saying local representatives are useless, planning is poor, traffic is bad and a minority of people engage in antisocial behaviour...you could be talking about anywhere. Best thing is to sell up and move on and take a real hard look at where you move to - let us all know when you find somewhere with excellent local representatives, high quality planning, light traffic and no antisocial behaviour. I'm guessing it won't be in Dublin.
Been living in Donabate for over a decade. Every area has elements of antisocial carry-on - some more than others - and in our area it's pretty damn low. It's the constant "othering" of people that the OP is displaying that's the real problem in society today.
My wife and I are looking forward to moving to Donabate in around July time, it’s location close to the coast, motorway, public transport etc. along with the feeling we get when we have visited the village made us sure we had made the right decision.
I am aware that not everything will be rosy and that areas will have their problems but I have to say that the person who wrote this original post has really annoyed me and not because of what they have said but it is the manner in which they have (why do you keep putting Donabate in capital letters?). I can sense real hatred in their tone of writing and it worries me, I would not want this person to be my neighbour as I would worry about rubbing them up the wrong way by maybe doing something they did not like and by complete mistake.
Of course, you can be passionate about the place you live, I fully support that but again the tone of this person's post and the language they use to describe their neighbours and fellow inhabitants of the village is not something I was expecting to read on this forum.
I am thankful to see that others commenting here who have lived in the Village for either the same length of time, longer and in some cases more recent arrivals do no support his views. I am personally really looking forward to starting my life in Donabate.
I am aware that not everything will be rosy and that areas will have their problems but I have to say that the person who wrote this original post has really annoyed me and not because of what they have said but it is the manner in which they have (why do you keep putting Donabate in capital letters?). I can sense real hatred in their tone of writing and it worries me, I would not want this person to be my neighbour as I would worry about rubbing them up the wrong way by maybe doing something they did not like and by complete mistake.
Of course, you can be passionate about the place you live, I fully support that but again the tone of this person's post and the language they use to describe their neighbours and fellow inhabitants of the village is not something I was expecting to read on this forum.
I am thankful to see that others commenting here who have lived in the Village for either the same length of time, longer and in some cases more recent arrivals do no support his views. I am personally really looking forward to starting my life in Donabate.
You know it’s cold outside when you go outside and it’s cold.
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Séamus Mac Brádaigh
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I look forward to reading what you think of Donabate after you have been living here for a while. While yes, there are many positives about the place, just looking at your reasons for moving here, you may have a different opinion after living here.gruffalo wrote: ↑20 Jan 2020, 13:25 My wife and I are looking forward to moving to Donabate in around July time, it’s location close to the coast, motorway, public transport etc. along with the feeling we get when we have visited the village made us sure we had made the right decision.
I am aware that not everything will be rosy and that areas will have their problems but I have to say that the person who wrote this original post has really annoyed me and not because of what they have said but it is the manner in which they have (why do you keep putting Donabate in capital letters?). I can sense real hatred in their tone of writing and it worries me, I would not want this person to be my neighbour as I would worry about rubbing them up the wrong way by maybe doing something they did not like and by complete mistake.
Of course, you can be passionate about the place you live, I fully support that but again the tone of this person's post and the language they use to describe their neighbours and fellow inhabitants of the village is not something I was expecting to read on this forum.
I am thankful to see that others commenting here who have lived in the Village for either the same length of time, longer and in some cases more recent arrivals do no support his views. I am personally really looking forward to starting my life in Donabate.
Public transport is shockingly bad. The trains are completely overcrowded and the bus service is practically non existent and, with all the development happening all along the northern train line, we are not far off the time when you won't physically be able to get on the train at Donabate. It is already that bad on some mornings already.
And as for the access to the motorway, yes that is really handy at off peak times but you are looking at it taking up to an hour just to get through the village at rush hour and with the population of the village doubling to over 20,000 over the next few years and with no improvement to the infrastructure planned, it is only going to get much worse.
Best of.luck to you and to all the people recently moved/moving to Donabate. I absolutely agree with you on many points but especially with the point about people caring about where they live. We are very lucky to have so many passionate and vocal people who really care about Donabate. Just look at what the Community Council and others have done re Corballis. I for one am so grateful and a bit ashamed I didn't object to that. Would have have a huge loss losing all that buffer for the nature reserve! People really need to back them up and get down to the Community Centre tomorrow- these people have invested time and money to make our neighbourhood a better and safer place to live
We have little to no access to buses were we currently live, therefore we do not use them so I have no worries about how bad the bus connections are to the village, although this could change in the future if our circumstances change but I cannot see the future.Séamus Mac Brádaigh wrote: ↑20 Jan 2020, 13:34I look forward to reading what you think of Donabate after you have been living here for a while. While yes, there are many positives about the place, just looking at your reasons for moving here, you may have a different opinion after living here.gruffalo wrote: ↑20 Jan 2020, 13:25 My wife and I are looking forward to moving to Donabate in around July time, it’s location close to the coast, motorway, public transport etc. along with the feeling we get when we have visited the village made us sure we had made the right decision.
I am aware that not everything will be rosy and that areas will have their problems but I have to say that the person who wrote this original post has really annoyed me and not because of what they have said but it is the manner in which they have (why do you keep putting Donabate in capital letters?). I can sense real hatred in their tone of writing and it worries me, I would not want this person to be my neighbour as I would worry about rubbing them up the wrong way by maybe doing something they did not like and by complete mistake.
Of course, you can be passionate about the place you live, I fully support that but again the tone of this person's post and the language they use to describe their neighbours and fellow inhabitants of the village is not something I was expecting to read on this forum.
I am thankful to see that others commenting here who have lived in the Village for either the same length of time, longer and in some cases more recent arrivals do no support his views. I am personally really looking forward to starting my life in Donabate.
Public transport is shockingly bad. The trains are completely overcrowded and the bus service is practically non existent and, with all the development happening all along the northern train line, we are not far off the time when you won't physically be able to get on the train at Donabate. It is already that bad on some mornings already.
And as for the access to the motorway, yes that is really handy at off peak times but you are looking at it taking up to an hour just to get through the village at rush hour and with the population of the village doubling to over 20,000 over the next few years and with no improvement to the infrastructure planned, it is only going to get much worse.
I am already using the trainline on a daily basis to commute to and from work so I know of the issues but if I am able to get on the train at my current stop then I cannot see why I would not be able to get on at Donabate, at present I do not require a seat so standing is not a problem. As for using our car, we would not be making many, if any at all, trips through the village at "rush hour" so that does not worry me either.
As mentioned, I am aware that my fortunes my change in the future and my reliance on public transport etc. may change but I cannot see into the future.
I fully expect the area to grow rapidly, why wouldn't it, as will all areas of similar distance from Dublin City Center. I will not comment on the actions or lack thereof of the the local Councillors as I do not know what they have promised and therefore delivered or not during the past.
You know it’s cold outside when you go outside and it’s cold.
I can only presume you've never lived in a part of the Dublin area where this is actually true. Obviously there is a lot of room for improvement, but the train line, while busy, is far superior to what most of Dublin commuter towns have to rely on: buses or cars. It also gets into the city centre in 25-30mins. There are precious few places around the outskirts of the capital where that's possible at rush hour. In addition I believe there's now a direct bus into the city via the port tunnel run by the Fingal Express.
It should've been completed years ago, but the distributor road is about to open which is an infrastructure improvement that should alleviate this exact problem.Séamus Mac Brádaigh wrote: ↑20 Jan 2020, 13:34 And as for the access to the motorway, yes that is really handy at off peak times but you are looking at it taking up to an hour just to get through the village at rush hour and with the population of the village doubling to over 20,000 over the next few years and with no improvement to the infrastructure planned, it is only going to get much worse.
Seems to me like the folks giving out about Donabate have lost sight of the positives of the area, especially relative to other places.
I’ve lived here for nearly 20yrs and seen huge changes. It still has a village feel, but this is changing due to new developments. The problem is not local councillors, it’s the ones who don’t live here that overrule the others.
FCC is trying its best to make a beautiful place horrible to live in. With bad planning, lack of crèche/ school places and no thought for the local community. The distributor road should have been finished first before any developments, but they caved in due to homeless crisis . We were lucky our kids could walk to school and be in a village , so close to Dublin.
I hope all new residents are as lucky, get involved locally and don’t turn it into Blanchardstown!
FCC is trying its best to make a beautiful place horrible to live in. With bad planning, lack of crèche/ school places and no thought for the local community. The distributor road should have been finished first before any developments, but they caved in due to homeless crisis . We were lucky our kids could walk to school and be in a village , so close to Dublin.
I hope all new residents are as lucky, get involved locally and don’t turn it into Blanchardstown!
Donabate is a lovely village to live in, lovely people and community spirit.
Yes our public transport needs improvement, yes our roads are busy but so are other towns and villages in north county Dublin.
Often people use this forum to harp on about negativities , not everyone but it is a common theme.
Best of luck to all moving to Donabate.
Yes our public transport needs improvement, yes our roads are busy but so are other towns and villages in north county Dublin.
Often people use this forum to harp on about negativities , not everyone but it is a common theme.
Best of luck to all moving to Donabate.
I bought my place from overseas & the writings on this forum almost put me off buying.
When I finally got here I was so surprised at how nice it actually is. I'd heard of Newbridge, but had no idea just how nice it is... such a nice thing to have on your doorstep.
Less of the negativity please.
When I finally got here I was so surprised at how nice it actually is. I'd heard of Newbridge, but had no idea just how nice it is... such a nice thing to have on your doorstep.
Less of the negativity please.