Developer Johnny Ronan's plans for a 44-storey hanging gardens have been criticised for being too extreme for Dublin, a city in need of more housing.

Mr Ronan's hanging gardens vision is more akin to a plan for Manhattan than Dublin, said Dublin Lord Mayor Nial Ring.

Meanwhile, Labour spokeswoman on housing Jan O'Sullivan said there was a lack of social housing in the North Wall Quay area of the capital and that was a "priority", rather than hanging gardens.

Mr Ronan's 'Project Waterfront' plan, with a 50/50 split between residential and commercial development, is almost twice the height of his 22-storey Tara Street development, which was given the go-ahead by An Bord Pleanála, last month.

The developer is aiming to build two towers on the last major vacant site north of the Liffey, near the East Link Bridge, promising jobs for more than 10,000 construction workers.

This site was previously occupied by a series of run-down warehouses. The proposed main tower on the quayside is 155 metres at its highest point, dwarfing the 51-metre Liberty Hall.

Mr Ring said he found a "very negative reaction" to the proposals as he canvassed ahead of the local elections.

"Most people really don't like it," he said.

"Is it Johnny Ronan's gardens of Babylon? This isn't Manhattan. This is Dublin and right now we have a huge housing crisis and this isn't something we need."

Ms O'Sullivan told the Irish Independent: "We absolutely need housing and it should be a priority everywhere, and particularly affordable housing."

Irish Independent