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WHEN THE SUN comes out in Ireland, complaints about young people congregating under blue skies are seldom far away. Last week, bollards appeared on Drury Street asking pedestrians to refrain from sitting on the pavement, reading ‘please don’t sit on the curb’ and ‘please don’t block this area’.
Business owners from Drury Street have expressed frustration at the situation, saying that a reduced footfall – due to the crowds socialising and blocking the street – is harming their trade.
The Irish Design Shop labelled the scene as “a total nightmare” on Instagram, asking their followers for suggestions as to how to navigate the crowds drinking on Drury Street, wondering out loud whether it was time to relocate, as they were unsure how they could continue to trade on a “drinking street”.
“Closing on Saturday afternoon was a battle,” the post reads. “It was even hard to clear drinkers from the shop windows just to get the shutter down. Streets change, town has definitely changed. Is town solely for socialising now?”
Speaking to this publication during the week, Ronan Rogerson of Drury Buildings said he was “dreading the summer” if things continued as they were in that location.
Madeleine Blaine from The Collective told RTÉ news that people were “having a picnic with bought-in drinks from around the corner… I have no issues about drinking in the sun, but this is meant to be a co-living space where we’re meant to have pubs and bars and shops.”
I empathise completely with the business owners on Drury Street, who have doubtless faced anti-social behaviour such as people urinating and getting sick on the street in front of their storefronts. But the suggestion that Dublin City Centre is solely for socialising these days is hard to believe, given that cultural and social spaces in the city have consistently come under threat in the last decade. In 2022, it was reported that approximately 32 high-profile cultural buildings had closed in Dublin over the previous two decades.
In February 2025, figures have shown there were only 70 nightclubs left in Ireland, 23 of which are in Dublin. It is estimated that without serious Government intervention, nightclubs could dwindle away in the coming years – a fact even more likely now that extending late licenses is no longer a key priority in the Programme for Government in 2025.
Serious underinvestment in new music venues and cultural spaces over the past decade has allowed developers to push instead for more hotels, office spaces and luxury apartment buildings in Dublin. More value has been placed on consumption rather than recreation, and the Drury Street debacle is a glaring example of the mindset that businesses should take precedence over the public, who are craving places that they can exist in without the need to spend money.
Add this to the ever-worsening housing crisis, and you create a country where young people feel like they are being choked as they try to exist. It’s no surprise that many emigrate, and there are many more who are considering it in the hopes of a better lifestyle. I moved to Belgium in 2021, and I have seen firsthand how a city can thrive for both young and old with the right imagination and political will.
Three years later, and it still amazes me how much the city feels like it belongs to the people living in it. As soon as the sun appears, people head out to one of the many parks in the city with a picnic and a bottle of prosecco. Terraces are usually full of people sitting outside dining, and the vibrancy of the city in those moments is infectious.
Many festivals are also organised during the summer from the taxes people pay. For example, Martin Solvig played in front of the Royal Palace in May 2023. A celebration for World Music Day happens every June, with stages dotted around the city centre, and a large-scale concert with fireworks to celebrate Belgium’s national day happens every July. Pop-up bars are installed in the city parks where people can buy food and drinks all summer, too.
The best part about all of this is how well these public spaces are managed when events are planned. There are extra bins provided, and volunteers are present to help guide you and monitor crowds. Public toilets are installed throughout the city, and generally, people behave well and clean up their rubbish after themselves. The city even encourages the use of public spaces, offering individuals and businesses grants to host new events around the city.
The key difference between Brussels and Dublin is that Dublin’s outdoor socialising has evolved naturally, perhaps out of necessity, and because socialising outdoors became popular during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Brussels has cultivated its social spaces and prepared for the inevitable crowds that will appear. There is a return on investment from the taxes people working in Belgium pay, and the city feels like it is a shared space built on mutual respect.
Dublin City Council needs to lean into what the public evidently wants – opportunities to mix with peers in a city that doesn’t feel like it is bleeding them dry. Maybe the answer is more pedestrianised streets, like Capel Street, to take the pressure off Drury Street. Or maybe installing pop-up bars run by local breweries in parks around the city, along with public bathrooms and extending park opening hours, would encourage people to congregate in open spaces instead of around shop fronts.
The Council seems willing to find a viable solution – stating it will coordinate with the public and businesses on Drury Street – but whether this can be done before the next spot of sun depends on the willingness of everyone to work together.
Conor Brummell is a freelance writer and communications professional currently based in Brussels, Belgium.
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I went to a restaurant in the city centre a couple of weeks ago. Hadn’t been in the city at night for a couple of years. Walked down Aston quay. I know it can be dodgy but I couldn’t believe how bad it was. Didn’t feel safe at all. Didn’t see any gardaí anywhere.
@Foscam Dl: We don’t even realise what standards are, dunno how we’re ever going to have them.
I have a press cutting from the end of the pandemic with a senior member of the city council saying they were not going to provide more bins or public toilets in the city centre as it would only attract more people.
That’s the mindset – people are trouble, buy stuff in the shops and go home.
Patrick Street in Cork has lots of benches where people can sit and chat. There is no equivalent in Dublin.
Little things tell you a lot.
There’s zero imagination in government or dcc. Badly laid out bollard strewn public realm is their speciality. Plenty of sound bites from dcc that they are willing to work to make the city a more attractive place, but they really are anything but willing. A glaring, absent, and easy early first step would be to provide public restroom facilities with a small charge if necessary. Dublin could be wonderful
@G: plenty of litter too
@Peter Byrne: it’s filthy, city centre and suburbs both
@G: DCC is a catchall for the aspirationless, what do people expect. ‘Rubbish in, rubbish out’ as they say
There is absolutely nothing to do in Dublin apart from drinking. Compared to mainland Europe it feels like third world of the west. After Token closed I gave up on it and just go abroad any time I can.
@Jako: totally agree.
@Jako: what are you on about
@Jako: try and have an idea Jako, wait and see the line of Irish people in your way.
Is it any wonder young people hoard outside on the streets to drink bottles and cans. The cost of food and alcohol in this country is INSANE! Ya know the way you’d have the money to pay for an entire round of 9 euro pints and 16 euro cocktails in the pubs in Dublin when your 21. You’d want unlimited supply of mammy and daddy money for that. I grew up in the 80′s, worked part time in Quinnsworth/tesco and I had plenty money for socialising. A full time min wage job now wouldn’t get ya a single night out in Dublin for dinner and drinks even with mammy and daddy paying all other bills for you. Ireland is ruined for the next generation today.
@Dan The Man: Yes.. Indeed this generation and the next is ruined. Young adults not willing to work. Expectations of instant wealth. Parents not holding their children accountable. Young adults thinking that every weekend is a party. And the huge unfair advantage of the young…. The feeling that they are owed something. Yes this generation and the next is ruined… I agree with you @Dan the Man.
@Seriously Really: ‘this generation and the next is ruined’ said every reactionary bore ever. You’d think people would have learned from history at this point, but no. The sky will continue to fall on our heads in the minds of the bitter and irritated. Quite how we got past the 1950s and rock n roll, the 70s with punk, the 90s rave scene and so on is truly a miracle. Generation after generation of dastardly young people doing things slightly differently, and yet here we are. Fast forward a hundred years and the same type of people will be firing out the same exhausted lamentations about da yoof. Round and round we go…
The Government doing a fine job chasing away young adults due to housing.
Pedestrianize it all, never understood why they allowed cars in this area (or Temble Bar), thousands of people, makes no sense.
@Declan Tiberius Kelly: Drury St being pedestrianised has contributed to the problem
What about the older people, everyone seems to be concerned about young people. If they are not smoking weed they are fighting each other.
@Thomas O’Brien: Sure that’s it Thomas. They do two things and two things only those young people. Why won’t they just hand over their cash to landlords and businesses and disappear out of sight altogether. Imagine the gall of people thinking we could maybe do a little better with our capital city and public spaces in general. Pure notions!
If you had read the article and the room, no one is talking about a city purely aimed at younger people. As if that would ever happen in Ireland anyway. They’re only asking for city spaces to be a little more accommodating, social and welcoming. Places that feel a little more like a shared space and home than just business districts to get fleeced or mugged in. And yes, this is for ALL. It’s not just for the younger demographic. With such an epidemic of loneliness, disconnection, radicalisation and poor mental health, all cities and towns need to be thinking about how to foster more of a sense of community. Who knows there might even be less of a generational divide if everyone isn’t cordoned off from each other. I know it might involve having a look at the witchcraft they employ in other European cities, but we’re a land of scholars apparently.
@SerotoninWars:
Sorry, I wasn’t up at 3:25 am.
The article is about younger people moving on if they don’t get their own way. As regards to reading the room, I don’t recall there been a room to read. Let’s all get a coffee or a can of coke and hang around talking rubbish for hours on end and blocking entrances to prevent real customers who actually want to spend their money, from getting into the shops.
@Thomas O’Brien: that’s a strange combination to witness. People amoking weed and then fighting.
I’ll bet 100 on “things that didn’t happen”.
@Shane Kinsella (Kinsey):
Are you walking around blindfolded or are you so stoned you don’t even notice.
@Thomas O’Brien: You didn’t read the article did you. Quelle surprise. Zero point continuing this when you clearly skipped to the comments just so you could trot out some inane shakes-fist-at-sky tropes. It was a wider discussion about shared spaces and city planning which clearly sailed right past you…Reactionaries are such a dull bunch.
@SerotoninWars:
Ok, Del boy.
This just comes across as the usual Irish self-loathing… I mean, he doesn’t even live in Dublin or the country; how do you expect to effect change if you’re not even in the place you’re complaining about?
I’ve lived in many European countries and several large cities in the US. The difference between where I’ve lived and Ireland… Is that, in general, people don’t have respect for each other. People don’t respect the city. People don’t have pride for the city. Proof of this is littering. Proof of this is the amount of antisocial behaviour. Proof of this is when you go to McDonalds and people don’t clean up after themselves. Other countries, alcohol in certain areas is accepted. In Ireland such a place would be madness. Would anyone clean up after themselves? Would antisocial behaviour occur? Proper behaviour isn’t taught in the homes. And no one and especially the Irish don’t accept correction well. The average Irish would rather fight than be given correction. How can life change?
I still remember when they shut down the Milk and Cookies Stories place in Temple Bar, a super successful space to socialize for young people without drinking, because it was causing trouble for too much noise, with pubs and bars running extremely loud music till late all around the place.
Any socializing that doesn’t happen in a place where you give the established business money in town is just blocked as much as possible. A shame.
If your idea of socialising is to drink yourself to unconsciousness while sitting on the filthy pavement where you won’t have far to fall, there’s not a lot can be done. Drinking and eating in public should be banned. It used to be known as bad manners.
Dublin really has turned in to a dirty cesspit, if something is not done soon it will be over for our tourism industry
Only want roaming gangs of local and 3rd world excrement in the city centres
I found amazing to see that many people enjoying on Drury street, DCC and businesses are just pathetic.
Haven’t found anywhere in Dublin a place where you could enjoy the sunshine properly.
@Alex: There any places to enjoy the sun in Dublin… Your Garden is a great place to start. Then there’s Phoenix Park, all of the squares dotteted around the city, Clontarf Promenade, and the boardwalk on the Liffey just to name a few places in Dublin. Now… Unlike many cities… Dublin is a short bus or train ride from surrounding area beaches and castle based parks…. There is an overabundance of places to socialise with friends and places to catch the sun on a nice day.
Dublin is a kip
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