Fine Gael seek a more ambitious plan to aid Dublin’s post-Covid recovery

Tonight, a Fine Gael Emergency Motion was unanimously adopted by Dublin City Council to ensure we have a city of good Summer vibes.

In short, we have secured further support for:

• Night Mayor for Dublin
• Spaces for safe outdoor gigs & markets
• Additional public toilets
• More ambitious roll-out of car-free streets

These are measures we want to see adopted immediately to get Dublin summer ready and to enable the physical, economic, social and cultural recovery of the city post-Covid.,

The wording of the agreed motion:

That Dublin City Council in acknowledging the steps and actions taken to date by the Director of City Centre Recovery since being appointed to the role last month;

• requests that City Recovery be included as a separate and specific agenda item on each monthly council meeting for the foreseeable future to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to revitalise and re-energise Dublin City;
• calls on the Director of City Recovery to provide a weekly update to Councillors regarding what steps have been taken by their office and the City Recovery Task Force to contribute to the City’s recovery;
• requests an update from both the City Recovery Team and the Covid Mobility Team regarding measures implemented outside of the Canals area, including the number of applications received and approved for outdoor dining in public spaces, and an update on the urgent need for the provision of temporary public toilets in areas where a significant number of people congregate, in areas such as public parks, along the Canals, and the Grand Canal Dock etc.
• calls for the necessary steps to be taken to allow for the appointment of a Night Mayor for the City to support night-time culture post COVID-19;

• requests that several measures be implemented with immediate effect by both the Covid Mobility Team and the City Recovery Team to get Dublin City summer ready, including but not limited to:
  • Additional litter bins to be provided and for bins to be emptied more than once a day in areas of high footfall, particularly at weekends and when warm weather is expected.
  • Accessible portaloos to be put in place in areas of high footfall across the City (including public parks), in addition to the decision to open public buildings for access to toilets, and before the introduction of temporary retail units with adjoining public toilets that will be in place this summer.
  • Expedite and be more ambitious in the roll-out of car-free streets in the city centre to enable accessible outdoor dining hubs.
  • To introduce more parklets, prosocial outdoor spaces to encourage safe cultural events, gigs, music and arts performances, as well as spaces for outdoor markets.

Cllr. Colm O’ Rourke,

Cllr Ray McAdam

Cllr Danny Byrne

Cllr Anne Feeney

Cllr Declan Flanagan

Cllr Terence Flanagan

Cllr James Geoghegan

Cllr Paddy McCartan

Cllr Naoise Ó Muirí,