US financial management software company Workday has cited “letters of support” from community organisations in its plans for a new EMEA regional headquarters in Dublin.*
Last year, Workday lodged plans with Dublin City Council for a mixed-use scheme to include two office blocks, ranging from eight to 12 storeys in height at the Strategic Development Zone in Grangegorman, Dublin 7.
Workday currently employs 1,800 here and this scheme would give it the capacity to increase its workforce to 3,500.
In response, the council sought further information and now, as part of revised plans lodged, Workday has included a letter from Capuchin director Fr Kevin Kiernan to its Director of Corporate Affairs and Operations which states that Workday’s support “has assisted us in responding to the needs of those who are homeless and at risk of homelessness”.
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Fr Kiernan said Workday staff volunteer on a weekly basis “in the preparation of our food parcels each Wednesday morning”. He said the Capuchin centre distributes more than 1,400 such parcels each week and the assistance of Workday staff “in preparing them makes a real difference”.
Workday has included “letters of support” from the Grangegorman Development Agency, TU Dublin and local DEIS primary school, Stanhope Street Primary School in the tranche of information lodged with the council.
Deirdre Delaney, principal at Stanhope Street Primary School, has stated that Workday staff volunteer their time to support local schools in a wide range of areas like shared reading programmes.
“The work of the volunteers enhances school life and ultimately has immense benefits for the pupils,” she said.
Architects for the scheme, Henry J Lyons, state that they have revised the scheme in order “to reduce the visual mass and weight of the proposal”.
However, the Legion of Mary, which operates the Regina Coeli Hostel on Morning Star Avenue, North Brunswick Street, which is located adjacent to the Workday site, has objected to the scheme.
The hostel can cater for up to 32 homeless women at any time and a report lodged with the revised plans states that the impact on the hostel has been reduced.
*This article was amended on Friday, April 19th, 2024
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