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A JC Decaux 'digipanel' on O'Connell Street. Valerie Flynn/The Journal

Dublin City Council moved trees and signs blocking billboards because an ad firm asked it to

Planters, poles and even parked cars have been flagged by JC Decaux as impediments to eyes on its ad displays.

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has been under sustained pressure from outdoor advertising firm JC Decaux to ensure its advertising displays in the capital are not blocked – and has complied with many of the company’s demands.

Planters, road signs, bins and parked cars were all flagged by the French advertising giant as blocking the sight lines to its advertising displays in a litany of emails to the council over the past three years.

The council agreed to remove two trees in planters near an advertising unit on Cork Street in late 2023 and early 2024, and move a third tree, after JC Decaux repeatedly complained about them.

The company told the council its sales department was “under pressure” from an advertiser, while the council countered that planters were a welcome addition to Cork Street given it was “quite a concrete jungle”.

The emails show JC Decaux also declined some locations offered by the council for new digital advertising displays, pushing instead for a more prominent position on Grafton Street, one of Dublin’s busiest shopping streets.

Extensive correspondence between the company and the council was released to The Journal under Freedom of Information.

IMG_4890 A JC Decaux billboard on Cork Street, a 'concrete jungle' where the council moved trees. Valerie Flynn / The Journal Valerie Flynn / The Journal / The Journal

Bikes for billboards

In a statement to The Journal, Dublin City Council said JC Decaux’s advertising panels ”need to be visible in order to cover operational costs and contribute to the funding of the Dublin Bikes scheme”. The panels are the “basis for funding” the capital’s bike sharing network, it added.

JC Decaux struck a ‘bikes for billboards’ deal with the council in 2006 whereby it operates the successful Dublin Bikes scheme on the council’s behalf, in return for public space to erect its billboards and brightly lit digital displays called “digipanels”.

The deal was criticised on its inception for the amount of advertising permitted and for its visual and physical impact on the capital’s already cluttered streets. More recently, the electricity-guzzling LCD digipanels have also come under fire for their environmental impact.

However, Dublin Bikes itself is widely considered one of the capital’s civic success stories, with over 38 million journeys completed since 2009. The scheme offers 1,600 bikes to hire at low cost from fixed stations throughout the city centre and inner suburbs.

3801 Bike_90656510 A Dublin Bikes stand in 2022. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Other changes made to the capital’s streetscape by the council following requests by JC Decaux included the removal of a parking sign on a pole on Shelbourne Road in 2023, and a litter bin on North Wall Quay.

Elsewhere, JC Decaux asked for a railway crossing warning sign on Merrion Road to be lowered so it wouldn’t block the view of one of its billboards, and for a railway bridge warning sign on Macken Street to be moved. It’s not clear what action if any the council took here.

The company complained about scaffolding on a building on Cuffe Street, and asked a council official to attend a meeting with the site foreman “to see if there is any way to improve the visibility of the [advertising] display”. 

The company also made frequent inquiries about how long road maintenance works would take when associated safety fences near its displays would be removed.

JC Decaux did not respond to requests for comment.

The council said there are currently 81 advertising panels in the city as part of its contract with JC Decaux, of which 43 are digital.

What’s next for Dublin Bikes? 

The current Dublin Bikes contract with JC Decaux will end in September 2027. The council said it plans to run a procurement process in advance of this date.

JC Decaux told the Business Post last year that if its deal with the council and the National Transport Authority is not extended it will remove all the bike infrastructure it installed.

Councillor Janet Horner, chair of Dublin City Council’s mobility and public realm committee, said the expiry of the current contract is an opportunity to change and improve the scheme, such as by possibly adding more stationless bikes or electric bikes, and by expanding the scheme’s geographic area.

Different ways of funding the scheme other than the current advertising deal will be considered, Horner said.

“I don’t think the advertising panels are in the interests of the city or a natural partner of the bike scheme but I accept that it requires further examination to figure out what is the financial model we are going with,” she said.

She added that she would like to see more advertising of the scheme and deals on membership to encourage more Dubliners to join.

With some cities internationally rolling back e-scooter sharing schemes and private e-scooters now legalised here, Horner believes there is less momentum behind the idea of a shared scooter scheme in the capital.

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51 Comments
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    Mute William Kelly
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    Feb 10th 2025, 8:35 AM

    What is DCC’s revenue objective in kowtowing to this company?
    Surely these display units are subject of planning conditions to protect environmental aspects. And was the company billed for the works involved?
    The only justification for removing trees or planters is citizen safety, not to open sites for unsightly ad displays.
    Something very questionable about this practice.

    195
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:17 PM

    @William Kelly: Anything for Dublin Bikes is the rule!

    9
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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:23 PM

    @William Kelly: Why do anything yourself when you can have the private sector do it for you? lol. We deserve this.

    15
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    Mute Bennett blaster
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    Feb 10th 2025, 2:03 PM

    @Gary Kearney: more space for you to park on the footpath Gary

    2
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    Mute Joe Willis
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    Feb 11th 2025, 7:22 PM

    @Bennett blaster: park his 2 tonne mobility scooter with hydraulics.

    1
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    Mute Dan Murphy
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    Feb 10th 2025, 7:51 AM

    Is Dublin city council fit for purpose, a root and branch overhaul of all these places need to take place, cushy jobs, with a long liquid lunch break while counting down to the pension.

    112
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    Mute Rob Goodbody
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    Feb 10th 2025, 8:21 AM

    @Dan Murphy: The usual list of unsubstantiated, offensive clichés.

    44
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:19 PM

    @Dan Murphy: Having dealt with DCC, that is not what happens at all. The problems are completely different.
    But you would know that if you did any community advocacy!
    Some really great people in DCC, a vast amount of them in fact!

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:25 PM

    @Dan Murphy: Better than the exc’s JC Decaux?… Doubt it! Still we do prefer to hate ourselves rather than a French Multinational involved.

    4
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    Mute Bennett blaster
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    Feb 10th 2025, 2:07 PM

    @Dan Yawn, some of the laziest workers I’ve had the misfortune to work with have been in the private sector.

    1
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    Mute eoin fitzpatrick
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    Feb 10th 2025, 9:03 AM

    Love how they slapped those new phone boxes around the place that no one will ever use so they can have more LCD advertisement space up in our faces

    50
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    Mute Chop Chop
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    Feb 10th 2025, 12:13 PM

    @eoin fitzpatrick: Haven’t seen them myself, though I don’t live in the hellhole that is dublin city. I just see the beauty of nature, all around me. You should move, bro.

    12
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    Mute eoin fitzpatrick
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    Feb 10th 2025, 12:45 PM

    @Chop Chop: love it here. where are you in ireland that there’s nature all around you? it’s mostly just farms.

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    Mute Chop Chop
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:01 PM

    @eoin fitzpatrick: Each to their own, mate. Wouldn’t be for me. Farms are built from nature. Grass, trees, hedging, animals.. it’s all good stuff. Though I get your point, there is no true wilderness in Ireland, which is a shame.

    2
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:20 PM

    @eoin fitzpatrick: I quired that as did some councillors and the problem is that Eir owned the sites from when they had public phone boxes there. So it was a matter of replacing them. Nothing that could be done.

    3
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    Mute Sean Hutton
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    Feb 10th 2025, 9:16 AM

    Like the government, councils are in the pockets of business, this is Ireland

    43
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    Mute Patrick Newell
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    Feb 10th 2025, 10:24 AM

    That brown envelope just fell into the laps of the DCC to have this done……all above board I am sure

    25
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:22 PM

    @Patrick Newell: Actually it is. Very transparent in fact.

    3
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    Mute J Ven
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    Feb 10th 2025, 8:51 AM

    This one I understand for the likes of advertising companies, first, they rent a space allocated by the city council for advertising display, but the display can’t be seen due to trees and other factors. DCC should have made these Co sesión in areas that are suitable or indeed provide remedy, at the end, they are taking money for a service is not being provided as agreed. What would happen if you rent a council house and that house has cracks or some defects, you would reach out to DCC to fix it

    18
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:22 PM

    @J Ven: And in my case it would be nearly 10 years and still waiting! DCC are very focused on what senior management want and the plans the last CEO implemented!

    7
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    Mute Me Me
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    Feb 10th 2025, 10:38 AM

    Would anybody here like to guess what 2 foreign nationalities have the highest arrest and detention figures in Ireland??

    16
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    Mute Spanner
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    Feb 10th 2025, 10:54 AM

    @Me Me: Culchies and jackeens

    19
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    Mute Pat Redmond
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    Feb 10th 2025, 11:16 AM

    The signs are also too bright.

    15
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    Mute John Sleator
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    Feb 10th 2025, 7:27 AM

    asked it to.

    13
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    Mute Concerned Driver
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    Feb 10th 2025, 10:37 AM

    EZ living cut 2 mature trees during a night without a permission from the landlord their rent the space from in Sandyford as it was obstructing their shop sign.

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    Mute Liam OTailliuir
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    Feb 10th 2025, 10:27 AM

    System needs to be funded. It is one of the lowest cost public transport options going. The app is great and the bikes are usually in good condition but there has been little to no expansion of stations in years.

    7
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:25 PM

    @Liam OTailliuir: The cycle on the paths, the cycle on the Luas tracks and they cycle wherever they want. Sure it is great fun dodging them!

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    Mute Mick Hanna
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    Feb 10th 2025, 11:17 AM

    Laughable!

    5
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    Mute Frank M
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    Feb 10th 2025, 6:32 PM

    Dublin city council there’s only one answer. Hand it over to the Trump and he will send in Musk. Problem solved.

    4
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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Feb 10th 2025, 1:27 PM

    “JC Decaux told the Business Post last year that if its deal with the council and the National Transport Authority is not extended it will remove all the bike infrastructure it installed.”… in business terms this is an exciting opportunity to do a deal for Irish people, like to see them try rip it up lol!.. IN REALITY? We’ll roll over and be shafted lol.

    4
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