The Irish Times had a brief report about the launch of a new phase of the Burkeen housing estate on the outskirts of Rathew.

“Former Miss World winner Rosanna Davison was at hand to introduce a touch of glamour at the launch of the Burkeen development at Friars Hill in Wicklow town last Friday.

The telescope, we believe, is to illustrate the fact that the houses have great views out over Wicklow Bay and the beautiful coastal wildlife amenity of the Murrough. We are sure that it’s bird life and nothing else that developers Fachtna Whittle (also Fianna Fail councillor for Wicklow town) and Robert Dunne had on their mind when this interesting photo was taken. Burkeen, by the way, is a scheme of impressive large detached homes with luxury fit-outs on the outskirts of the town. Four-bedroom houses start at €690,000 and five-bedroom houses at €1.1 million.

Must be a sign of the times when a the ubiquitous Ms. Davison is called in to ensure the development gets some column inches.

The most interesting thing about the Burkeen development is the fact that anyone coming to view the houses (presumably most will be from Dublin) are directed by the signposts all the way in to Wicklow Town and then doubling back to the estate along the back road to Rathnew. The most direct route is to turn off just before the graveyard in Rathew. I’m quite sure the decision for the longer route doesn’t have anything to do with potential buyers having to pass by a number of coucil estates on the road to their “luxury” development?