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Paddy Buckley has worked at the Moore Street business for nearly 50 years.

'Customers find it impossible to get here': FX Buckley butcher says Luas works forced him to downsize

Buckley pins the drop in footfall on Moore Street to the Luas Cross City works.

LONGSTANDING BUTCHERS FX Buckley on Moore Street in Dublin has had to downsize its operation, with owner Paddy Buckley blaming Luas Cross City works for declining business.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Buckley said that he has had to close off a portion of his premises in recent weeks because of a downturn in business.

He also said he had to let staff members go over the past number of years as the situation has worsened.

“I’ve had to downsize in the last few weeks,” he said.

I’ve tried not to downsize but I’ve just had to… The business isn’t there, the volume of people in the street is way down over the past four, four and a half years.

Buckley has worked in the butchers in Moore Street for 45 years, following in his father’s footsteps, who opened the first FX Buckley there in 1930.

The name has since expanded into one of the most recognisable butchers in Dublin. Different members of the Buckley family operate butchers and restaurants across the city.

Paddy’s relatives operate the FX Buckley’s steakhouses, with notable restaurants off Baggot Street and in Temple Bar.

Paddy is the owner of the Moore Street outlet. As a result of a decline in business, he said he has had to close off a retail section of his store.

Luas works 

“A lot of the traders have left the area as they just haven’t been able to make it pay,” he said.

Buckley pins the drop in footfall on Moore Street to the Luas Cross City works, which have been ongoing since early 2013.

original File photo of Luas works on Parnell Street earlier this year.

The construction phase of the Luas Cross City works finished up in June, with testing of the lines then commencing. The tram line is due to be up and running by the end of the year.

“The Luas works have caused absolute havoc – they’ve cleaned it up a bit since but now the damage is already done,” said Buckley.

“The works over the years [have] done untold damage to the business. People spending hours coming in and out of town, getting stuck in traffic, the roads were left in a mess.

There were construction works on Parnell Street and O’Connell Street – we were completely surrounded.
Customers find it impossible to get here. Even friends and family, loyal customers couldn’t make it in to shop.

As a result of the downturn in business, Buckley said he has had to let staff go over the past number of years.

“I’ve tried to hold off… but I had to grab the bull by the horns and downsize,” he said.

He also said Dublin City Council should have dropped business rates in order to protect the longtime traders and sellers on the street, but that this had not been the case.

“They’ve given us no protection, the traders and sellers of the street,” he said.

Buckley’s comments echo those of other Moore Street traders, who blame worsening business on the Luas Cross City works and a lack of investment in the area.

In May, TheJournal.ie spoke to Stephen Troy of Troy’s Butchers, and Noel Dunne who runs Centra on the street. Both expressed serious concerns with the construction works, blaming their declining business on the disruption.

TheJournal.ie / YouTube

As a result of this, a number of businesses are considering taking legal action against the Luas Cross City project for compensation for business lost.

As well as issues around the works, TheJournal.ie has spoken to fruit and veg traders on the street who have also seen their business drop off in recent year, blaming a lack of investment in the area.

In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson for Luas Cross City (which is overseen by the National Transport Authority) said that it was in no position to provide financial support to businesses.

“Luas Cross City are not in a position to provide financial support to businesses. We regret any inconvenience which is caused to businesses in the affected areas and we do all in our power to mitigate the impact of these necessary works,” the spokesperson said.

Luas Cross City  has the  authority to carry out the works, including non-negligent disruption to businesses.

The spokesperson pointed towards the Railway Order granted by An Bord Pleanála for the works.

The spokesperson said:

“In granting the Railway Order, An Bord Pleanála acknowledged in its Preamble that it:

  • “accepted that the long-term benefits of the scheme would outweigh the short-term impacts during construction”; and
  • “the construction phase of the scheme would result in some significant disruption in the city centre” and
  • “such impacts were an inevitable consequence of the scale and nature of the project”.

Read: ‘It’s absolute chaos’: Luas works are causing serious traffic issues on Moore Street

Read: ‘You just feel like no one cares one bit about us’ – Moore Street traders working in the shadows of history

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    Mute Phillip Roche
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    Oct 6th 2017, 12:48 AM

    Luas works are a good 500m away from shop front at least, dont see the connection here to be honest. I’d personally be more concerned of the shady looking lads shouting ‘Tobacco’ in your ear as you pass them haunting the entrance to the shop.

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    Mute Morizy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:21 AM

    @Phillip Roche: you’ve made that sound worse than Syria but Delighted at the same time you survived your haunting experience.

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:41 AM

    @Morizy:

    Sounds worse than Syria, perhaps a little exaggeration there.

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    Mute Seth Cheffetz
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:16 AM

    @Phillip Roche: to be honest I was thinking the same. This is a shop you walk to, no one would drive to it. I think it’s possible other factors are contributing to the loss of business on Moore St.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:21 AM

    @Seth Cheffetz: yeah the crap fruit and vegetables they try and give you if you’re not watching them like a hawk.

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    Mute Andrew Mockler
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:28 AM

    @Phillip Roche: id say its 151 meters away from the spire and 219 meters away from Parnell street, you must have bought a cheap Chinese measuring tape on moore street.

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    Mute Brinster
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    Oct 6th 2017, 12:32 AM

    “….short term impacts during construction”

    On what planet is 4.5 years “short term”???

    Venus maybe, where a “day” is 5,832 hours long.

    And it was 4.5 years of continuous disruption. There were “active” sites fenced off on Dawson St for every day of those 4.5 years.

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    Mute Mary Murphy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:29 AM

    @Brinster: Short term relative to how long the Luas will (hopefully) be around. Still don’t quite understand why we didn’t just paint lines on the road and run electric buses. Anyone got any ideas?

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    Mute Jamie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:46 AM

    @Mary Murphy: we already have diesel buses what difference would an electric bus make ? Trams run on 750 V DC to make them “go” that’s what the overhead cables are for

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    Mute Jamie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:53 AM

    @Jamie: and trams can carry more people than a bus

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:55 AM

    @Brinster: used to live on Parnell Square as a student (imagine being able to afford that now!) and I used to walk down to that butchers for my meat and they were always lovely with great quality meat. I don’t doubt the Luas works have impacted I think the port tunnel was built quicker than this!

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    Mute Jamie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:04 AM

    @Deborah Behan: that must’ve been way back in the 70s was it?

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:58 AM

    @Mary Murphy: yeah like they had in Belfast, trolly buses! Too sensible for the government to think of.

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    Mute Jamie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:02 AM

    @Gus Sheridan: and are you calling the British government sensible?

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    Mute Derek Walsh
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:14 AM

    I’m on or near Moore St. several times a week. It’s as easy to get to as it ever was. It’s still just off the very busy and pedestrianised Henry St. And it’s still close to the Ilac Centre car park for anyone who’s driving into town to buy meat. I’m really struggling to see how the Luas works could have affected this shop’s trade. Or indeed, how this man can separate the effect from other factors.

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    Mute JMac
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:47 AM

    Why is the same points repeated over and over again in the article. Two short pargraphs would say it all.

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    Mute JMac
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:48 AM

    @JMac: are

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:09 AM

    @JMac:

    It’s because repeating the same point again and again extends the length of the article. You could imagine by repeating the same points in an article, it makes it look like the article has more substance than it really has. By repeating the same points throughout the article but in slightly different ways, it lengthens the article substantially.

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    Mute Joe Bourke
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:57 AM

    @JMac: Google takes the length of time a reader spends on a page into consideration for ranking – hence longform content usually ranking better.
    So unnecessarily long articles – combined with the infamous comments section – are a big boost to The Journal’s SEO.
    They should have some of the commenters on here on a retainer!

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:59 AM

    @Tweety McTweeter: zzzzzzzz

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    Mute John Reid
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:00 AM

    Intelligent cities build their urban railway lines underground, thus avoiding turning the surface-level areas of cities (where businesses operate) into construction sites. But not so in Ireland!

    Building underground provides a lot more flexibility in terms of transportation, and endless possibilities for routes. Building underground also means that you avoid narrowing, yet further, centuries-old city arteries and roadways like those in Dublin.

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    Mute Brian Lenehan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:05 AM

    @John Reid: modern cities have a mixture of both. But building underground is substantially more expensive and, believe it or not, we don’t have the money. I’d sooner have the LUAS now than the promise, potentially, of an underground system as soon as we can afford it.

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:52 AM

    @John Reid:

    Are you considering the water table in Dublin or the River Poddle.

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    Mute Tomás Doyle
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:22 AM

    Stockholm is built on 14 islands and has an underground system…

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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:44 AM

    @Brian Lenehan: In Sofia, the Capitol of the poorest country in the EU, the public can choose between buses, trolley buses, trams, and an extensive underground system, modernised in many places over the last few years, to get around the city. The modernisation took place in the city center with new tunnells being built. It took less than two years, and with minimum disruption to people, shops, businesses and trafic.
    Cars use the same road space as trams. Cycle lanes use footpath space.
    Dublin Luas and cycle lane, and the work involved is all about restricting road space to car users and causing as much disruption as possible. Why? Why cant the city authorities put the alternatives to car use in place before the deliberate restriction of roads to those who have no alternative but to use their cars. Why can’t Dublin afford a public transport system worth the name?

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    Mute ed w
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    Oct 6th 2017, 2:05 PM

    @John Reid: wrong munichs underground was built in the sixties by digging up the roads deep enough to put the tunnels in then covering it over, its the cheapest option.

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    Mute owentighe
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:12 AM

    Fantastic butcher. One of the best.

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    Mute alphanautica
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:02 AM

    The Luas workers and project manager pride themselves on their work rate.

    Time lapse photography speeded up 500x makes it looks like they are actually moving.

    It’s an artform they perfected when taking nearly 2 months to lay each foot of track through the IFSC.

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    Mute Seth Cheffetz
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:21 AM

    @alphanautica: it took them equally as long to open the cherrywood stop and they didn’t have to deal with any of the issues of being in the city centre.

    17
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    Mute Brian O Reilly
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:06 AM

    Could it be that people are changing their dietary habits,?

    49
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    Mute Jamie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:03 AM

    @Brian O Reilly: maybe southsiders turning vegan but not northsiders

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    Mute John Gough
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:55 PM

    @Jamie: maybe not vegans but they are buying their cow and chicken from Aldi.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:58 AM

    Nah, only a madman would drive to Moore street. This is nothing to do with the work. Are they really thinking that anyone buying a meat on Moore street is driving from outside a city centre? What a load of nonsense.

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:03 AM

    @Krystian Brzezowski: I do. But I don’t try to park on Moore St.

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    Mute Ne
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:30 AM

    @Krystian Brzezowski: It’s pretty much pedestrianised, isn’t it?

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    Mute Brian O Reilly
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:10 AM

    It is a great butchers though .and quality will win out ,

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    Mute tom McCormack
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:50 AM

    Arnotts which is just beside Moore St is booming..
    A more likely reason for the decline is the Aldi and Lidl store that are in this area now.

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    Mute Miriam Kane
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:43 AM

    I don’t know how any business survives in the centre of town. If they put as much effort into addressing antisocial behaviour in Dublin city as they do obstructing people using their cars business would be grand. Alas this is not the case.

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    Mute Joe Dobias
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    Oct 6th 2017, 12:49 AM

    I’m a snowflake please wrap me up in bubble wrap. I bet he also supports Trump

    29
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    Mute Brian Lenehan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:59 AM

    @Joe Dobias: you’re mixing them up. Snowflakes tended to vote for Hillary. They’re still traumatised by it, no doubt getting counselling for it.

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    Mute Jamie
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:01 AM

    @Joe Dobias: you should have a read of this in case you missed it earlier ‘Middle-aged, middle-class deriders of millennials are biggest snowflakes of all’
    http://jrnl.ie/3631651

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Oct 6th 2017, 5:59 AM

    I’d say the ould multiples aren’t helping either

    21
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    Mute Brian Lenehan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 6:01 AM

    He’s no doubt looking for compo even though the new LUAS extension will bring substantially more business to his door than ever before. Pathetic.

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    Mute Morizy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:23 AM

    Moore st is dead now you only go up now for either a prostitute or a sim card.

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    Mute owentighe
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    Oct 6th 2017, 1:51 AM

    @Morizy: bull shit.

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    Mute Seán O'Keeffe
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    Oct 6th 2017, 12:48 AM

    No pun but BS.

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    Mute Linda Hughes
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:42 AM

    The powers that be killed Moore street! I walked down it last week and its destroyed there are nothing but foreign shops there and dare you go into them you’re made very uncomfortable! People used to go to Moore street for the real DUBLIN atmosphere , the Trader’s and the bargains and that’s all gone! So i don’t just think it’s because of the Luas !

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:05 AM

    @Linda Hughes: yes Moore Street has changed beyond belief. Went there after a 5 year gap and was horrified.
    Apart from a few recognisable shops the whole street is full of Chinese shops! The atmosphere has gone
    Few street traders, junkies trying to sell you dodgy cigarettes , how was this allowed to happen
    Our planners need to be arrested, why do I suspect brown envelopes figure in this somehow
    With the trail back to the planning department….

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    Mute Andrew Mockler
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:18 AM

    @Gus Sheridan: totally agree, its a dive, and who wants to shop in a derelict street. with junkies screaming at each other over 20cent.

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    Mute Biddy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:05 AM

    Maybe the fall off in sales is because of the rude staff who ignore customers. I was in the shop last week and was left standing unattended for several minutes while the two butchers stood in front of me belly aching about a colleague. I left without a purchase and will never go back.

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    Mute Andrew Mockler
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:52 AM

    the Luas hasn’t affected his shop, has anyone seen moor street. it’s a poxy kip.
    his other shop on Talbot street looks busy every time I pass it and that had its road closed off for a good while. he should be blaming lack of investment on the street vs the other streets in the area. Zero advertising and brand awareness on his behalf, I mean cmon who goes for fruit and veg on Moore street. it’s so dirty there, covered with piss, excrement, junkies, knockoff shops and rats everything boarded up and it could be such a lovely street. if you had a few good shops there they would all play off each other, I still see the building used in the final stand of the Rising not being utilised. Moore street has huge potential to be a market like the English market in Cork. do planners not have the imagination anymore?

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    Mute Paul
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    Oct 6th 2017, 2:40 AM

    We always here things like this just before anything big opens.

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    Mute Daniel O'Neill
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:34 AM

    @Paul: Where?

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    Mute JMac
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:28 AM

    @Paul: hear

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    Mute Cram Wood
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    Oct 6th 2017, 7:36 AM

    That effing Luas should have been a Metro.
    Our Micky Mouse Communist State will always do the wrong thing.

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    Mute Eoin Fitzpatrick
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:20 AM

    @Cram Wood: I think you’ll find most former communist states in Europe have excellent transport systems

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    Mute Andrew Mockler
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:19 AM

    http://www.englishmarket.ie
    if moore street was like this.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Oct 6th 2017, 8:56 AM

    They have the best spiced beef I have ever tasted! Cant put into words how good it really is!

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    Mute Bhiniáimin Ó Beith
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:53 AM

    Is there any evidence that the Luas works are directly affecting sales, vehicles tend to avoid Moore Street. They get a lot of foot traffic from Henry street and the ilac centre. Moore Street is slowly improving with the ilac upgrades but let’s face it one side is still a dive maybe he should factor In competition there is a Lidl just 30 secs up the road and Troys. I’d like to see these people complain when the Luas is dropping off thousands on Parnell Street.

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    Mute Maeve O'Leary
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    Oct 6th 2017, 9:50 AM
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    Mute Renee Barrett
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    Oct 6th 2017, 11:20 AM

    @Maeve O’Leary: Maeve, thank you very much for trying to save Moore Street.

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    Mute Stephen Troy
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    Oct 6th 2017, 2:10 PM

    All negativity about Moore Street – what about businesses on other streets in the city that are also hugely impacted by the works?

    The whole city centre has been impacted by the works. The hardest thing for me as an employer is telling men with families and mortgages you have to make them redundant. It’s a huge pressure. Not to mention the cost of making them redundant with very little government subsidies.

    Similar projects on a larger radius only took 18months in other countries. A complete and utter piss-take. #governmentfunding

    Constitution hill, Bolton street , upper and lower Dominic street, parnell street and o Connell street dug up for months without any active works been carried out. Not to mention Dawson street!

    Be great to see it finished … if we’re still in business

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    Mute Michael cunnane
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    Oct 6th 2017, 10:45 AM

    Do great suits there too.

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