Dubliners need to take back the narrative from ‘bad actors who say the city is dangerous when it’s not,’ the Chair of Dublin City Task Force has said.
The taskforce is today publishing its final report – which includes a range of measures aimed at making the city centre a better place to live, work and visit.
Among the recommendations are calls for the deployment of 1,000 extra gardaí in the city, an increase in private security of public transport the introduction of a community warden scheme.
It calls for derelict sites to be redeveloped as high-density residential units – with essential workers like Gardaí, teachers and nurses handed grants to live in them.
The report also calls for measures to improve the city’s nightlife and cultural scene with extended opening hours and increased funding.
The group, chaired by An Post Chief Executive David McRedmond, is also calling for a new dedicated waste management plan for the city, with the practice of leaving bags out on footpaths brought to an end.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Mr McRedmond said the group believes the capital also needs a major marketing push to change the way people view the city centre.
“What is absolutely key is we have to change the narrative in Dublin,” he said.
“So one of the core recommendations is to have a major marketing team and function for Dublin to take back the narrative from bad actors who say that Dublin is dangerous when it’s not.
“The effect of them saying that is it means fewer people come into the city centre and then it feels less safe.
“We need to change that narrative – as well as having more Guards and things.
“Really though, we have to show people all the brilliant things that are going on in Dublin.
“It’s a really brilliant, brilliant city and I hope that this report can allow us to get the city centre into a shape that people will like.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris after the launch of the Dublin City Taskforce Report at the GPO in Dublin, 21-10-2024. Image: PA Images / AlamyMr McRedmond said Dublin is facing the same issues that many cities around the world are dealing with – underinvestment after the financial crash, post-pandemic remote working and the switch to online retailing.
He said the report aims to “really develop the city centre for the future, not as a city centre from the past”.
The three main ways it tries to do that is through:
- Getting more people to live in the city centre
- Delivering streets that are cleaner and safer
- Fostering an ‘always-on’ vibrant atmosphere in the city while respecting its cultural heritage
“My own view is that if we implement this report, Dublin 1 – and that’s really our focus, the O’Connell Street area – could become one of the most happening neighbourhoods in Europe,” he said. “If we make all the changes that can be made.”
He said the plan aims to get more people living in the city centre by introducing planning derogations to make it easier to build accommodation above shops and redeveloping vacant properties as high-density accommodation.
The plan also calls for the GPO to be reimagined as a key public building in the city centre.
He said it could be rebuilt as a new world-class national museum that would act as a “magnet for the diaspora”.
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