Transport and environmental protesters are blocking Dublin’s Lower Liffey Street from traffic today in a ‘car-free’ protest.
It follows a similar blockade of South William Street last month by “The Streets Are For People" group.
The city council announced plans to pedestrianise Lower Liffey Street earlier this year, but some businesses said they would oppose the move.
The Dublin City Traders Alliance has suggested the development "would result in a significant impact upon traffic movement in the city".
Speaking at today's demonstration, Green Party Councillor Neasa Hourigan said they’re trying to draw attention to the fact that Dublin is one of the most congested cities in Europe.
She explained: "We know that 1,000 cars go down this street every day.
"It's not a very heavily trafficked space, so this is a prime area: there's huge amounts of pedestrians using it and there are minimum amounts of cars. Why can't we make it a pedestrian space?"
The party's Dublin MEP Ciaran Cuffe suggested today's protest shows the potential of a traffic-free city centre.
Nicely done @streetsare4ppl. Good to see #StreetsAreForPeople in action on Liffey Street today. Worth checking out! pic.twitter.com/xumPtaf86j
— Ciarán Cuffe (@CiaranCuffe) August 31, 2019
He argued: "I think if you look around Europe at the moment, giving streets back to people is the direction that successful European cities are going.
"The city I work in some of the time, Brussels, has taken cars out of a lot of the city centre... Strasbourg is the same.
"I think it's the way forward, and I think successful cities will be cities which create a really good public realm that's safe for older people and children alike."
