I walked through Trinity College on my way to town on Friday morning and stood at the gates for a few seconds to look around.
We have culture, we have beautiful buildings, and some of the finest Victorian pubs in the world. We have an amazing city with beautiful architecture around College Green — but we have allowed businesses with tacky plastic shopfronts to go into that area.
We need to start by preserving what we have, looking after the little things and building on them.
Tax breaks for rejuvenating shopfronts should be considered by the Government in the Budget next month.
Most of all, I want the people who live in the city to be proud of Dublin
There is a great example on Mount Street, where Coffee Angel is moving into a building and uncovered a mahogany shop front which is 120 years old. They have started restoring it and it looks fantastic.
When people live in a city centre, local coffee shops thrive, delis thrive, little businesses do well. They bring employment, improve the feel of a city, make it cleaner and safer.
The Government has a Living Cities Initiative which offers tax breaks to encourage people to live in historic parts of the inner city, but we don’t see it promoted or utilised enough. That needs to change to encourage people to move towards the city.
Willie Aherne, owner of the Palace Bar. Photo: Mark Condren
A “doughnut effect” between the canals has been spoken about, where the city centre hollows out as people move out. Dublin needs young people, young families, to live in the city and help preserve it — because they will take pride in where they live.
I hope this will be taken seriously by the new Dublin City Taskforce when they start trying make this a better place to live, work and visit.
I would like to see the taskforce engage with the stakeholders on the ground — shopkeepers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, people working in the city and people living here.
I hope they develop five- and 10-year game plans for the city, and that it doesn’t become a talking shop.
A 24/7 police presence is needed, and public transport also needs to improve
Whatever plan is developed for Dublin will need a figurehead to guide it. John Moran becoming the directly elected mayor of Limerick could be a good case-study for us.
We need common sense, a strong personality at the top, someone who can deliver results over 10 or 20 years. If the Limerick plan goes well, it should be considered here.
There are other very obvious issues in Dublin. A 24/7 police presence is needed, and should be supported by permanent, always-open kiosks on O’Connell Street and Dame Street backed by sufficient resources.
Public transport also needs to improve by providing a service which matches what people need.
I live in Dublin, I work in Dublin, I love Dublin. I want to showcase it to people who visit the city. Most of all, I want people who live in the city to be proud of Dublin.
