The plan to pedestrianise Merrion Row in Dublin City Centre this summer is “hare-brained” and “not going to happen,” according to councillor Mannix Flynn.
The Sunday Times reports that the council has agreed to pedestrianise Merrion Row, Mary Street and part of Capel Street in a bid to entice people back into town as restrictions are eased.
Following the success of last summer’s pedestrianisation of five streets in the Grafton area, there are also calls for a range of other streets in the city to go car-free as the country reopens.
It follows the news that 17 streets in Cork will be permanently pedestrianised to help breathe life back into the city.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Gina Murphy, owner of Hugo’s Restaurant on Merrion Row said the plan aims to reinvent the street as a ‘cultural corridor’ linking restaurants with the galleries and museums it is famous for.
“What we want to do is create a pedestrian link between the museums and the galleries – because we have the national and the natural here,” she said.
“The National Library, the National Art Gallery, the RHA, the Concert Hall – we are the pedestrian link between them all and what we want to do is to emphasise that and give it a whole new lease of life and remove traffic from the street.”
Truly one of the most difficult weekends. We must find solutions. If it’s outdoor dining then let’s have the best, for everyone. Let’s make our city a strolling one. Pedestrianise our 110mtr Merrion Row & support its 12 hospitality businesses & their 100’s & 100’s of staff 🙏 1/3 pic.twitter.com/stjC1ciY5w
— Hugo's Restaurant (@hugosrest) February 22, 2021
She said businesses in the area have been working on the proposal for eight or nine months of work – and noted that Merrion Row is a small street with ten bus routes ‘barrelling down’ it every day.
“What we are trying to do here is create an attraction within the city,” she said.
“It is not just about the restaurants. This is about creating somewhere where we would have market stalls, artists, there would possibly be a mobile bandstand for lunchtime jazz or classical concerts – this is about a whole concept for the area, it is not just about dining outdoors.”
Let's create wonderful, colourful, safe, outdoor living spaces. Bars, restaurants, cafes, street theatre and bandstands. Merrion Row could become the Cultural Corridor between St. Stephens Green and Merrion Square, a walking link between our National Museums and Art Galleries.
— Hugo's Restaurant (@hugosrest) February 22, 2021
Also on the show, Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn labelled the plan ‘hare-brained’ and insisted that it was “not going to happen” this summer.
“This is Dublin City Council with the NTA (National Transport Authority),” he said.
“We simply don’t lob off streets. This takes a long, long process – otherwise, you end up in court and otherwise you end up in disarray.”
He said he is ‘all on for pedestrianisation and all on for cycling’ but said the NTA will never approve the plan because the street is a main artery in the city.
“We have hundreds of requests from people in Dublin to close off streets and do all sorts of hare-brained ideas but it is not going to happen, I can guarantee you that because it is a main artery,” he said.
“Merrion Row is a main artery with huge buses going through it and huge traffic going through it.”
He insisted that any plan to pedestrianise areas of Dublin will have to go through the full statutory process to be approved.
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