A key adviser to the Government on science and technology has suggested that the current decentralisation proposals should be abandoned in favour of creating a new Brasilia-style administrative capital city for the country.
Dr Edward Walsh, the former president of the University of Limerick, has suggested Athlone or the Shannon region as a suitable location for the new capital, which would also house a new Dáil building and Government headquarters.
He said that such a bold move offers the greatest potential to correct the current bias towards Dublin.
Dr Walsh believes the current Government decentralisation plan has been "hurriedly prepared without access or consultation".
In a speech on decentralisation, to be delivered to senior civil servants tomorrow, Dr Walsh suggests that the Government's programme is a pre-election gimmick similar to the abolition of rates in 1977.
Dr Walsh is also chairman of the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, which advises the Government on science and technology policy issues.
While welcoming in principle the decentralisation initiative as "a splendid national opportunity to correct the Dublin imbalance", he said this had not been availed of.
The current proposals could "serious endanger the future effectiveness of central government and Ireland's wellbeing", he said, and aspects needed to be re-examined.
He believes the current proposals to move civil servants to 53 locations would fragment central government, slow decision-making and undermine the national spatial strategy.
Dr Walsh has suggested using a regional city or group of cities as a focal point for decentralisation, "forming a strong cluster that would stimulate the emergence of a counterpole to Dublin". Another is to move the administrative capital in its entirety to a new location.
He cites examples from around the world, including Canberra, Washington DC and Brasilia.
Athlone, "because of its central location", is one suggested location, but would need to be transformed into a city of "significantly greater scale", he added.
He also suggests the 600-acre Dromoland site as a site for a new parliament and government building complex, with Galway, Limerick, Shannon and Ennis providing the core infrastructure.