Fears market canopy will encourage antisocial behaviour
City councillors are expected to give the green light later to the €1.2 million Cornmarket Street revamp, designed to transform the area known to generations as the Coal Quay.
Cornmarket Street has long been famous for its street traders and hosts an open air market every Saturday.
The upgrade, which has been in the pipeline for over a decade, was in doubt earlier this year after cutbacks in council funding.
However, city manager Joe Gavin has prepared a report for councillors tonight confirming that the council can divert funding to start the revamp.
But the Cornmarket Street Business Association said it is worried the canopy over the market stalls will lead to an increase in anti-social activity, especially after dark.
Association chairman, publican Con Dennehy, who has lived and worked on the street since 1957, said gardaí, who have a busy station on the street, have expressed similar concerns.
Businesses are also worried about the removal of on-street parking, he said.
“I have been contacted by a lot of our members in the last 24 hours and concerns are mounting,” he said.
“We’re in the middle of a recession. Haven’t they anything better to be spending the money on?”
He said he will be seeking a meeting with Mr Gavin to discuss the project. “It just can’t go ahead in its present form,” he said.
The council plans to build a wide plaza on the west side of the street to host a permanent street market, and to erect a fixed canopy to cover the stalls.
It will upgrade the streetscape with wide granite footpaths, new public lighting, and new trees, along similar lines to nearby St Patrick’s Street and Grand Parade.
* Cornmarket Street has historically been the city’s markets street dating back to the 17th century when it was a quay for the landing of goods outside of the city walls. The street market itself is one of the oldest surviving institutions in the city, dating from the 1820s.
