TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

Wind and nuclear energy capabilities also surface as a force to be reckoned with. The Midlands
is now the energy and technology hub of Ireland in 2030.
The development of this new dynamic economy in the Midlands during the mid 2010s, leads to a
sharp rise in employment and people begin to return to the region, albeit in a very different
manner to normal migratory patterns. Commuting from the Greater Dublin Area becomes the
norm, consequently, leaving the ATM region with a low density, ageing demographic. The area
starts to attract retiring rich industrialists to its neo-industrial zone, while the middle class
cannot afford to even consider this as an option. This is due to the fact the land and housing
stock in the region is excessively expensive, which encourages a revered rural way of life for the
wealthy supported by excellent amenities, thus leaving the poorer classes to dwell in the urban
centres on the periphery of the gateway. As a result, the population becomes stagnant.
Furthermore, a palpable divide emerges between the rich and the poor and this social
separation renders the Midlands an affluent and seemingly elitist society.
By 2021, the Midlands have become one of the most prosperous regions in Ireland. It boasts
beautifully maintained garden squares, an array of private boarding schools, affluent marinas on
the river Shannon, an untouched landscape between towns, sustainable urban design in all
buildings and housing developments and civic spaces longed for by other cities in the country.
Additionally, the ATM region has become known for its effective transport planning, since it
developed and promoted its major inter-modal sustainable transport system and links between
the three major towns, to cater for the rising number of workers and commuters into the
region.
The transport system includes
the Dublin West airport,
completed in 2017 and
located near Mullingar, more
railway and bus routes and
heli-pad facilities to cater for
the heli-boom that occurs in
the region by 2019
subsequently leading to the
ATM region having more
helicopters per capita than
anywhere else in Ireland.
Responsible for the success and the perfectly executed planning of the area is the first CEO of
the Midlands, Michaella O’Leary. The post of CEO is created in 2018 following a spate of BMW
regional authority scandals regarding the misappropriation of funds, bribery and a number of
incidents regarding medical negligence. In the spirit of the flexible economic-driven capitalist
era, the national Government, The Progressive Liberal party, under the pervasive influence of
the industrialists and transnational corporations around the country, agrees to the strengthening
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