Terry Fagan is a renowned Irish local historian and storyteller from Dublin’s North Inner City. Born in the 1950s and raised in the historic heart of what was once Europe’s largest red-light district, the Monto, Fagan witnessed firsthand the rapid transformation, and often erasure, of the surrounding Dublin tenements and their culture.
He is, to this day, one of the best living sources of lore and information about this lost world, as well as a collector of histories of it.
In the 1970s, Fagan began his historical work by recording oral histories from local residents, many of whom remembered formative events such as the 1913 Lock-Out, the 1916 Easter Rising, and the War of Independence and Civil War. These interviews also documented memories relating to life in Dublin’s tenements, experiences in industrial schools and Magdalen laundries, dock work, women’s roles, deaths of children, money lenders, orphanage life, and more, covering both the public and intensely personal history of inner-city Dublin.
Fagan’s work extends far beyond oral interviews. He is the longtime director of the North Inner City Folklore Project, an initiative that began as a jobs program and allowed him to preserve and publish stories from his community. Over decades, he has amassed a vast collection of tenement artefacts: photographs, books, letters, coins, dockers’ buttons, children’s toys. His vision has always been to open a dedicated museum so this vital social history is preserved within, and for, the local community rather than being housed elsewhere.
This museum has been a reality in the past and Terry’s current passion is to reestablish it.
Terry has published works such as “Monto: Madams, Murder and Black Coddle” and “Dublin Tenements: Memories of Life in Dublin’s Notorious Tenements,” both drawn from his extensive oral history collections. He is also a popular walking tour guide, interweaving tales from his own life as well as audio samples from the collections he oversaw. The Monto tour includes tales about brothel madams, dockers, and a “hidden Dublin” many would prefer to leave interred in the past.
The future of urban transport policy lies not in expansion but in the intelligent use of existing traffic areas. The objective of ensuring mobility for people travelling to work and shopping and during leisure time requires urban traffic management based on modern information technology. Ernst Joos, Deputy Director of Zurich Transport. ‘Lessons in Transportation Planning from Zurich. Economy and Ecology are not contradictions.’ (Lecture, Dublin Transportation Office, Embassy of Switzerland, Dublin, June 10 1999)
Over the past twenty-five years, those responsible for managing Dublin have failed to draw any lessons from Zurich, one of the most desirable cities in the world in which to live. If they had, they would not now be seriously proposing to add yet another railway system to the two already existing. The proposed MetroLink is a completely different system to the existing LUAS (light rail) and DART/Commuter services (heavy rail). LUAS trams will be unable to run on the MetroLink rail, and vice versa (see About, Frequently Asked Questions, MetroLink – The Basics, par 6).
Resources committed to MetroLink (€500m to date) have crowded out the development of other, less costly, options which would, by now, have made it easier to move around our capital city region.
Place-making – an approach to urban planning and design that focuses on the people who use a space, rather than just the physical structures or buildings. The idea is to create places that are not just functional, but also beautiful and meaningful to the people who live, work, and play there. This has long been overlooked by the governing networks of politicians, senior public servants, policy makers, as well as the relevant planners, engineers, economists, architects, property developers and builders. Focusing on competitiveness alone will not make our capital city a pleasant place to live, work and linger.
For some time, there has been a deliberate policy of removing through traffic from a small part of Dublin city centre. MetroLink is the most recent iteration by insiders/incumbents who did not follow through on the 1998 government decision to build a mainly on-street light rail system for Dublin.
As proposed, MetroLink (costing anywhere from €12bn to €23bn) again fails to ensure that place-making objectives are applied consistently, and with equal force, throughout our capital city.
Ballymun provides an excellent example of this failure. When the 1960s-built-suburb was regenerated during the 1990s, the main street of this residential area became a six-lane highway for through traffic. Such traffic is a major form of community severance.
The proposed MetroLink will be in a tunnel, under the main street which will still have through traffic. National and local politicians, policymakers and interest groups support this. Yet the same people are actively restricting such through traffic from the city centre.
The Government decision to extend LUAS to Finglas is an opportunity to reset the go-stop-go practices of the past twenty-five years. Our public authorities can use this to keep the experienced staff and supply chains needed to build LUAS networks serving other parts of Dublin (e.g. Drumcondra, Santry, Ballymun, Beaumont, Coolock, Edenmore, Lucan, Clondalkin, Ballyfermot, the south city centre, Harold’s Cross, Terenure, Rathfarnham, Dundrum). People in Cork and Galway would also benefit from this focus as they too adopt LUAS-type services.
Sustaining urban areas requires the application of mutually reinforcing measures consistently over decades. Instead of being focused on the creation and maintenance of places which raise the quality of life, development in Dublin has been reduced to a very limited form of building control on a project-by-project basis.
We can enhance our cities by adopting stable policies and continuous investment. But we cannot rely on what emerges from different programmes for government, each drawn up for a single electoral cycle of no more than five years. Rapid decision-making on arbitrary projects has not worked to make housing affordable, or available, in the Dublin area. Nor will similar incoherence deliver an attractive public transport network.
On April 8, 2025 the Government approved the Revised National Planning Framework. This recognises the issue of Sustainable Mobility (National Strategic Outcome 5 p.161-2). Dublin and other Irish cities and major urban areas are heavily dependent on road and private, mainly car-based, transport with the result that there is more and more congestion.
The National Development Plan makes provision for transformational investment in public transport and sustainable mobility solutions in the main urban centres that will progressively put in place a more sustainable alternative. For example, major public transport infrastructure projects identified in the Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area to 2042 – such as the MetroLink and DART+ as well as the Luas and Bus Connects investment programmes – will keep our capital and other key urban areas competitive.
In the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022 –2042, the National Transport Authority (NTA) continues to spin the idea that LUAS is networked, when our experience is otherwise (‘Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042’ asserts that ‘in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in December 2017 we opened Luas Cross City, linking the Red and Green lines and providing an interchange between commuter rail and Luas at Broombridge.’ p.11).
What is worse, NTA persists with this bluster despite their own strategy showing clearly that they propose more lines which are not interlinked.
Figure 1. Dublin Light Rail (now LUAS) as proposed.
In 1997, Dublin’s light rail was proposed as one interconnected system (see Figure 1). However, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce opposed on street LUAS. In May 1998, the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat government decided to develop Dublin’s light rail system (now LUAS) as follows
Phase 1 – Line A from Tallaght to Middle Abbey Street;
Phase 2- Line B from Sandyford to Sr. Stephen’s Green;
Phase 3 – an eastward extension of Line A from Middle Abbey Street to Connolly and perhaps then on to the Docklands;
Phase 4 – an underground extension of Line A to Broadstone then continuing with surface running to Finglas and the Dublin Airport.
This bizarre decision meant that another depot (for maintenance etc.) had to be built for Line B (now the Green Line), as the Red Cow depot (now on the Red line) could not service trams, although it was designed and built for three LUAS lines!
At the time, I estimated that the cost of connecting the two lines was about the same as the cost of acquiring a site and building another depot. The only remaining green space next to the Sandyford Business district became the depot. Recently Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council re-zoned an existing brownfield site to create public open spaces. This was a belated response to the growth of offices and residences in that area.
Nothing was done to build the Phase 4 short tunnel under the city centre, as decided in 1998. Shortly afterwards, in 2001, the Government had an opportunity to correct its basic error when ‘A Platform for Change. Final Report An integrated transportation strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2000 to 2016’ was published.
Figure 2. LUAS-on-street light rail.
This proposed an on-street LUAS network (see Figure 2) as one of a set of mutually reinforcing measures designed to make it easier to move around the Greater Dublin Area. Note that this report proposed, inter alia:
A LUAS line through Drumcondra to Dublin Airport with a spur line to Howth Junction, which has DART and commuter rail services;
A Docklands loop across a then proposed bridge at Macken Street– now the Samuel Beckett Bridge.
The LUAS Green line was to be upgraded to Metro.
Figure 3. METRO segregated light rail.
The Metro then proposed is radically different to MetroLink. The decision to extend the Green LUAS line through Broadstone to Broombridge on-street foreclosed the possibility of having a short tunnel between Ranelagh and Broadstone, as the Government decided in 1998.
To see what a mutually-reinforcing set of rail-based options for the Dublin looks like see Figure 4. Bus services were supposed to be designed to complement this.
Figure 4 Integrated rail transport for Greater Dublin Area
Back to the Future
It is time for a reset for MetroLink, which it is projected will cost up to a staggering €23 billion, which is two or three times the original estimate, especially given the economic uncertainty that has arisen since Donald Trump became President in January 2025.
The application to extend the Green Line LUAS to Finglas is an opportunity to extend that project to Dublin Airport, as Cathal Daughton pointed out in a recent article. While welcome, the extension of the LUAS Green Line from Broombridge in Cabra to Charlestown in Finglas should have continued the additional 3km to Dublin Airport to create a city centre-airport rail link while the Metro is being built.
TII estimate that the 4km LUAS Finglas project will cost between €420 and €720 million. Getting to the Airport could be done by extending LUAS through Ballymun to the old airport road at Santry (see Figures 14 and 15). That route would avoid the cost of going over or under the M50, in addition to serving more residential and business areas.
Is journey time between Dublin City Centre and the Airport an issue?
NTA published a number of Dublin Airport passenger surveys over the past twenty-five years . These reports show that most passengers: take less than one hour to get to the Airport (see Figure 5); are travelling for holiday/leisure/visiting family friends (see Figure 6); and are not going to Dublin City Centre (see Figure 7).
Figure 5. Journey Times to Dublin Airport 2001-2022.Figure 6. Trip purpose Dublin Airport passengers 1998 – 2022.
The NTA reports show the purpose of passenger travel has scarcely changed over the past twenty-five years. This suggests that most passengers are not pressed for time.
As regards the landside origin/destination of these passengers, NTA collected the data in surveys done in 2001, 2011, 2016 and 2022. The published reports do not, however, contain summary data for the years 2016 and 2022. The reports of the 2016 and 2022 surveys do not contain any explanation for this omission. The published data from the 2001 and 2011 reports show that less than one-quarter were going to/coming from Dublin City Centre (See Figure 7). Any passengers that need faster journey times between Dublin Airport and the city centre have the options of getting taxis which can go through the Port Tunnel and use bus lanes.
Why has the National Transport Authority (NTA) stopped publishing data on the landside origins/destinations of Dublin Airport passengers? Without such data, how can trends be assessed as a basis for investment?
This does not correspond with what Robert Watt (then Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform) wrote in 2017. Among the outputs in 2014 from these economists is the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2015-2017, a review of agri-taxation measures, and an evidence-based Strategic Framework for Investment in Land Transport. This work is high-quality economic analysis undertaken by Irish Civil Servants [my emphasis].
Arrival times for passengers departing Dublin Airport
TII claim that MetroLink will result in morning peak journey time savings of fourteen minutes from St. Stephen’s Green to Dublin Airport. During weekdays, the morning peak (mainly into Dublin) is from 07.00-10.00 with an evening peak from 16.00–19.00 (mainly out of Dublin).
NTA reported on the departure times of departing passengers. The reports for 2001 and 2011 did not contain this data aligned with peak hour travel times, see Figure 8. However, the 2016 and 2022 reports did, see Figure 9.
Figure 8. Time of Arrival at Dublin Airport for Departing Passengers 2001, 2011.
The 2016 and 2022 results offers insight on the impact of airport travel at peak commuting times. Note that the fourteen minute time saving is on a journey that is in the opposite direction to the normal city-centre inbound traffic we hear about in traffic bulletins covering the 07.00-10.00 morning peak.
For 2022 (see Figure 9), over 70% of departing passengers travelled to Dublin Airport outside the peak commuting times of 07.00-10.00 and 16.00-19.00. This is up from the 60% reported on for 2016. This lack of fit between peak commuting times and the times when most people travel between the Airport and the city centre is not a robust basis for offering a cost-benefit of this MetroLink project.
Figure 9 Time of Arrival at Dublin Airport for Departing Passengers 2016, 2022
Commuting in the Dublin area
Census 2016 maps (Figures 10 and 11) suggest that most commuting within the Greater Dublin Area within the M50; along corridors; to the North West (Blanchardstown N3/M3 corridor); the west (north/south of the N4/M4 Lucan Clondalkin area); the south-west (N7 Naas Road, N82 Tallaght).
Neither Dublin Airport nor Swords stand out as places which call for exceptional investment to enhance public transport for people who live and/or work in those locations.
The reports of the latest Census do not reproduce these maps. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) did not give any reason for dropping these maps from the Census 2022 report on commuting.
Figure 10. Feeder Towns into each Dublin Census 2016.Figure 11. Catchment area of major workplace locations.
North Dublin Compared to other parts of Dublin
More people live in the north part of Dublin City than in any other part the Dublin area (see Figures 12 and 13). This has been the case for the past thirty years.
Why is this area getting less attention for enhancing public transport than the route to Swords?
Figure 12 Dublin City North population compared to other areas in Dublin 1991-2022.Figure 13. Dublin City North population compared to Fingal 1991-2022.
Comparing the North part of Dublin City to Cork is revealing. Earlier this month, the NTA began public consultation on the Emerging Preferred Route (EPR) for an eighteen kilometre twenty-station LUAS line for Cork. This is to support the objective of Cork becoming the fastest-growing city in Ireland over the next twenty years, with a targeted growth in population of 50 to 60 percent.
In 2022, Cork City had a population of just 224,000. Growing by 50% (to 336,000) would mean that Cork’s population would still be less than the 346,000 people now living in the north part of Dublin city in 2022.
A LUAS loop for Dublin North City
In 2015, I commissioned two maps from the All-Island Regional Observatory (AIRO). These showed the then existing and proposed rail-based commuter services superimposed on, firstly Dublin’s Economic Core were measured as having more than seven hundred jobs per square kilometre; and secondly population density in the Dublin area, based on the then most recent Census 2011.
In March 2024, I recommissioned an update based on the 2022 Census and the proposed MetroLink. On these, I superimposed a proposal for a North City LUAS Loop (see Figures 14 and 15)
This North City LUAS loop would better serve the over one and a half million people in the Greater Dublin Area than the proposed MetroLink, as it recognises that most commuting takes place within the M50.
This forms a network with the existing LUAS system, unlike the proposed MetroLink. It also serves parts of Dublin in which most people live. Furthermore, it would cost about €7 billion, i.e. less than a third of the estimated €23 billion MetroLink is projected to cost, and extends the proposed Finglas LUAS to sustain a programme of experience and supply chains required for LUAS in other urban areas, such as Cork and Galway.
Ever since the 1998 decision to build LUAS, siloed thinking has prevailed. The public authorities did not follow through on the decisions taken then. MetroLink is just the latest example of that kind of ‘ad-hocery.’
They have misdirected investment, as is clear by the failure to create a single integrated LUAS network as the key element of a series of mutually -reinforcing measures to enhance our capital city region.
Figure 14. LUAS Loop North Dublin’s Core Economic Area Census 2022.Figure 15. LUAS Loop North Dublin Population Density Census 2022.
Firstly, this proposed North City LUAS loop serves the northern part of Dublin’s Core Economic Area and the populated areas comprehensively, taking in Phibsboro’, Cabra, Finglas; Poppintree, Charlestown, Ballymun, Northwood; Santry, Dublin Airport, Swords, Drumcondra; Coolock, Beaumont, Kilmore, Edenmore, Donaghmede;
Secondly it is integrated with LUAS and could link with a Docklands (North and South) LUAS loop using the Samuel Becket Bridge which is designed to carry LUAS.
Thirdly, it offers two rail-based links between the Central Business District and Dublin Airport in addition to transport services which use the Port Tunnel, i.e. a direct link on LUAS via either Drumcondra or LUAS CrossCity; an indirect using DART/Commuter services at Howth Junction. There are also links with heavy rail services on the Maynooth/Mullingar/Longford line at both Drumcondra and Broombridge.
It would also serve important trip attractors/generators including Mater/Cappagh/Beaumont/UPMC medical centres, Croke and Tolka Parks, all the DCU campuses, the Marino Institute of Education in addition to industrial areas at Coolock/Clonshaugh and Santry Finally it offers services to more areas experiencing social deprivation than the proposed MetroLink route.
It would also serve important landmarks including Mater/Cappagh/Beaumont hospitals, Croke and Tolka Parks, all of the DCU campuses, the Marino Institute of Education. Finally it offers services to more areas experiencing social deprivation than the proposed MetroLink route.
As the world of infrastructure evolves, programmatic thinking is reshaping how organisations across the world approach planning and delivery. This shift to a cohesive, programme-based perspective is also gaining traction across the island of Ireland It requires not only consistent, multi-annual funding but also a cultural change within individual delivery organisations in how projects are planned, prioritised, and executed.
As proposed, MetroLink is the polar opposite of this kind of thinking. It reflects the politics of grand gestures more than quiet competence applied consistently over many election cycles.
Ten years ago, NTA summarised the case for light rail in Dublin see Figure 16. Despite the population growth, this still makes sense.
I’m a filmmaker and Kerry based farmer, currently on a residency at the Fire Station Artists’ Studios in the heart of the city for the next two years. I’m very familiar with Dublin, and it’s fair to say it’s my second home since I came to Ireland in 1981.
I will also be heading to the bothy project (Sweeney’s Bothy) in Scotland in January as part of my research. This is on Eigg, and the island is owned by the community and completely self-sustaining (Eigg Electric).
My research will focus on the concept of dematerialisation in urban environments. The idea is to explore how cities can become more sustainable, efficient, and culturally enriched by re-imagining the use of physical materials and objects. This concept may be aspirational, but I think that is the artist’s privilege.
I cycle to the South Wall, through the docks, past the sewerage treatment plant, incinerator and power station almost every day for a swim. You cannot ignore that the city’s waste is not managed properly, the stench and volume of overflow is there to be seen by everyone.
Moving the port and repurposing the land offers tremendous possibilities, it is obvious when cycling through it. I wish, however, that this vision could be taken even further by considering innovative ideas such as transforming Poolbeg into a cultural hub akin to the Tate Modern in London.
This could not only celebrate art and culture but also serve as a focal point for sustainable energy and food production using recycled waste.
It seems to be that waste management in general in Dublin is oversubscribed and under serviced. There is a saying in farming “where there’s muck, there’s money” and I firmly believe this. People need to face up to their sh!t, people who clean it up should be rewarded more – it shouldn’t be such a dirty job!
There is ample opportunity to reimagine waste management in a way that is both enjoyable, productive and eco-friendly. By making waste management a clean and fun part of everyday life, we can contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable city, it is in fact a no brainer. Why are there no communal gardens?
In my opinion there should be an emphasis on high-rise, high-density living – with greater emphasis on rewilding and natural green spaces to keep people, and their dogs happy. By incorporating such features into the redevelopment plans, we can create a dynamic and efficient urban landscape that embraces modern living while reducing our environmental footprint.
I believe there should be more imaginative thinking and bold ideas in urban development. The transformation of Dublin Port would be a significant step in the right direction, but I think the exploration of additional creative possibilities could make our city a more vibrant, sustainable, and enjoyable place to live.
I hope Dublin can evolve into a city that embraces innovation and imagination, it has everything going for it.
When David Irving, the mad fascist historian imprisoned in Austria for Holocaust denial, was asked to speak by The University Philosophical Society in Dublin in the late 1980’s, the Student Union – involving the current Labour leader Ivana Bacik – instigated a protest that led to a minor riot to prevent him from speaking.
Given the criminal damage, which included broken windows, it’s miraculous no one was badly hurt. Having stormed the Bastille, they tried to track down Mr. Irving, who, bizarrely, had taken refuge in The Dracula Museum at the very top of the building. In the meantime, I, and others, witnessed him with a load of maps of Concentration Camps on the floor in front of him, in near darkness, insisting it could not have happened. I left the building.
As the events unfolded, I was asked to speak to the chamber and suggested that a much better course of action would have been to allow Irving to speak and then heckle and destroy.
I should add that my original advice that he should not have been invited had been ignored.
David Irving.
Guilt and Attribution
I am loathe to agree with Mr. Varadkar about anything but I can’t help agreeing that the events in Dublin’s fair city on the 23rd of November disgraced Ireland. The question of course is the attribution of blame and responsibility. The Moral ledger. Guilt and attribution.
Before initiating new legislation, I believe Varadkar and his government should read Albert Camus’s The Rebel on the subject of extremism, and how a reign of terror begins. How do we identify in advance the sans culottes?
Here today we see a potential terror, but a terror by whom and for what purposes? And how does the state not become part of the problem – as an ancien regime adopting draconian laws that foment terror in response? How do we prevent the creation of a police state purporting to prevent anarchy?
The far right is a product of neo-liberal Ireland, state authoritarianism and surveillance, and the conduct of our thuggish professional and business classes. The people rioting are Leo’s Picture of Dorian Gray: the generation he inherited as Taoiseach; and let us not forget the earlier, inconsequential, insurrectionist protest outside the gates of the Oireachtas. It wasn’t exactly The Boston Tea Party or the Trumpian storm on the White House, but a worrying indication of the shape of things to come.
Though the numbers are small in Ireland now, the movement is trending with over one-third of Europeans endorsing far right-wing parties. And now the proto-fascist Geert Wilders has emerged as the main victor in the Dutch election; while in Italy far right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni prosecutes the legendary Italian journalist Roberto Saviano, who had the temerity to describe her as a bastard over her immigration policies.
Leo Varadkar ought to understand, as Mr Saviona does, that crony capitalism and drug cartels exhibit similar features. The drug cartels, subversion and gangsterism of the inner-city rioting often finds a reflection in the mendacious and buccaneering conduct of the commercial classes. Varadkar’s government cannot wash its hands of responsibility of the causes of the Promethean storm.
Moreover, irresponsible comments by Mary Lou McDonald that Drew Harris should resign betray a complete lack of empathy with the injured, some seriously, rank and file Garda officers. Whatever I think of the police as an organization – which is not much – the timing of remarks such as these was unacceptable, and in context offensive.
Image: Daniele Idini
Themes of Protests
The themes of the protests are transgender rights, sex education at schools, immigration, corruption, and criminalizing offence. A whole phalanx of designer leftist and so-called progressive issues are under attack. These are issues that need to be disentangled, and the rage of the mob understood if not in some situations, in my view, condoned.
Of course we ought to be highly sceptical of agendas underlying this Populism, not least when it is guided by keeping Ireland for the Irish, or that Irish lives matter. This is a nasty echo of the exclusionary racism and division of our time such that one cannot say all lives matter without generating offence. The extremist reaction in response is to say that non-national life should matter less and can even be destroyed. Sadly, it seems, the moderate, inquiring centre ground has been lost.
The question of sex education at school interacts with religious mullahs and those who enforce dogmatism. But it was nonetheless ridiculous to attempt, essentially, to no platform someone of William Binchy’s intellectual stature – however misguided he may be in my view – disqualifying him from talking about euthanasia because he is a white privileged male further fuels the fire.
Moreover, it is unarguable that the transgender lobby are ludicrously over-represented in the media and dedicated to no platforming.
Clearly, the Dublin Protest on the 23rd became nasty and racist after a social media sensation attributed blame to a non-national for a brutal attack produced a flash mob. Unsurprisingly, the protesters ignored how a Brazilian delivery rider had given the victim a chance of life, in a proportionate defence, acting as the good Samaritan.
Image: Daniele Idini
Understanding Hatred
It is time to rid ourselves of Irish exceptionalism and investigate the gorgon’s head. To condemn at one level is to fail to understand. The indignation is the product and the cause of others.
Let us deal first with the right to protest, as I envisage a new set of laws being promulgated to regulate this. Certainly, the Gardai now need to deal with a situation of extremism spiralling out of control with increased presence on the ground. But now many are calling for them to be equipped with tasers which are useless at preventing a riot such as we saw in Dublin.
The current Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD previously obtained a High Court order from Justice Owens requiring telecommunications service providers to retain certain data – including user, traffic and location data –for a period of twelve months, for the purpose of safeguarding the security of the State.
Those in power ought to consider Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize winning novel, Prophet Song, a dystopian vision of an Ireland of the near future, which describes:
The dark pouring of the riot police, the rattling staccato of live rounds fired above protesters heads … the slow-motion collapse of the body torn into pixels as it is consumed by tear gas.
Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights provides for freedom of assembly. This means that every individual, regardless of cause, has the right to protest, march or demonstrate in a public space. Historically the police had a duty to refrain from restricting this right unnecessarily and a positive obligation to take measures to protect peaceful protests. It was also the case that any intervention had to be necessary, proportionate and for one of the following aims:
In the interest of national security or public safety
– to prevent disorder or crime.
OR
To protect health or morals – to protect others’ rights.
Freedom of assembly is also guaranteed under the much-denuded Article 40.4 of the Irish Constitution.
In the famous Irish common law ‘orange lily’ case Humphries v Connor, 1864 plucking an orange order lily from a woman in the nationalist area of Belfast was adjudged to be a justifiable police act and a regulation of protest, as this would likely cause a breach of the peace. In these situations, historically, the police may take reasonable steps, including arrest, to prevent or stop a breach of the peace intended to cause harassment, alarm, or distress. The authorities already enjoy sundry other powers about rerouting matches, such as in the Love Ulstersituation.
The Dublin riot should not be used as an excuse to introduce new powers that will have little or no affect on preventing disorder on the streets.
Édouard Vuillard, An Enemy of the People program for Théâtre de l’Œuvre, November 1893
Corruption
One interesting aspect of the allegations made by far right protestors is that our ruling classes is irredeemably corrupt, a view which aligns with left-wing, even Marxist, critiques of crony capitalism.
Although Henrik Ibsen was not an overtly political writer his An Enemy of The People (1882) explores a moral question pertinent to our times. In that play a prominent and well-connected engineer, whose brother is the town mayor, is asked to conduct a survey of the waters of a town which has become famous as a spa resort, attracting a great deal of tourism. When he tests the waters, however, he finds that they are polluted. He informs the town burghers and indeed his brother. In essence, he protests.
Rather than lauding him and complimenting him for a finely attuned sense of ethics and professional analysis, they turn on him with ever-increasing ferocity. He is told that he will destroy the local economy. He is named and shamed. His family is torn apart, and he becomes an enemy of the people.
This was also the fate of Jonathan Sugarman and Garda Maurice McCabe, among others, who have exposed serious wrongdoing in the Irish state. Interestingly, the arrests of those who speak out is also evident in Paul Lynch’s novel.
For Leo Varadkarto say that anyone involved in civil disobedience or protest requires disproportionate sanction is to fail to understand the right in question.
Jurgen Habermas, the greatest living intellectual on the planet, argues for the vital importance of civil disobedience in vitalizing a democracy. The question of civil disobedience has a long history. One of the first exponents was Antigone, who went against the will of the autocratic King Creon in Sophocles’s play in 430 BC, invoking a distinction between positive law and the law of God.
The right to civil disobedience has never featured prominently in Catholic theology and philosophy, as civil disobedience tends to be sacrificed on the altar of order publique. As Catholicism recedes in Ireland we are witnessing the advent of a new corporate theocracy imposing its own order publique.
But the right to disobey against tyranny is important, as Locke argued; Foucault also chastised what many writers have termed blind obedience, as did Hannah Arendt.
An intolerance of dissent is an increasingly feature of our age. In a recent book by Frédéric Gros Disobey! The Philosophy of Resistance (2021) the question of surplus obedience is canvassed. This is a surplus to requirements where one obeys for the rewards or pledges, assumed promises and out of a visceral sense of gratitude. This is what is called anticipatory obedience.
Leo Varadkar ought to recognise that not all protest is comfortable or right, but it is irrelevant at one level if the protester is misguided; he or she ought to retain a right to be a nuisance.
Towards the end of his career Ronald Dworkin wrote an article on the right to ridicule. Perhaps we should also emphasis the right to be a nuisance: for holding awkward opinions.
It should be stressed that the control of protest is also intimately related to the control of dissent. Thus, the dissident or conscientious objector is prosecuted as a deviation from an oppressive norm. Sakharov is imprisoned by the Communist state subversives. Religious mullahs prosecute Salman Rushdie. Thought censorship rules.
Anyone has a right to be a nuisance or a gadfly in a participatory democracy.
The Holiday Inn Express hotel in the aftermath.
Protection Against Hatred
The Gardaí enjoy the right and should be empowered to protect against hatred. If rioters spread hatred against transgender people, then the protest should be stopped, and they should be prosecuted. The same applies if they spread hatred and racism against immigrants. I am talking about thuggish racist behaviour.
There may be a legitimate argument that an indigenous community is being displaced, and even being rendered homeless. But this does not condone anarchical jihadism. The Irish government are to be commended, to some extent, for protecting refugees in temporary accommodation, but not for negating affordable housing and embedding corruption. People have a right to affordable housing and a decent quality of life in a state. The cost of housing associated with the presence of vulture and cuckoo funds fosters hatred in Ireland.
Through neoliberal policies and increasing state authoritarianism, the ruling parties have fostered far right Populism. In my view in moral terms there is little to distinguish many of the police enforcers from the protestors. You cannot claim the moral high ground to condemn unless you understand blame and responsibility.
Thus, in general, in what remains of our democracy, protest rights should be protected. People ought to have a right to say, peacefully, ‘I disagree’ with the government’s immigration policies, but without spreading hatred towards minorities, or attacking innocent bystanders.
The state has facilitated this promethean storm. The mob subscribes to fascists ideas, but it is within the architecture of the state security apparatus that fascism tends to emerge. Our government may not be overtly racist, but indifference to poverty and social exclusion has caused many problems and contributed to racism.
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In contrast to other major European cities, Dublin has few rail- or tram- lines. Instead, public transport users mainly rely on an extensive but complicated bus network. This is, however, slow and unreliable, owing to Dublin’s appalling traffic congestion. Moreover, for several key destinations outside the centre, notably Dublin Airport, buses are the only available public transport option.
Dublin’s traffic congestion suffocates key transport corridors: from Stillorgan to St Stephen’s Green; Blanchardstown to Stoneybatter; Terenure to the Liberties; and Coolock to the Docklands. These arteries are so gummed up that drivers last year spent, on average, two-hundred and fifty hours in traffic – making Dublin the third worst city in the world for time spent sitting in traffic.[i]
The effect of spending the equivalent of more than ten full days in a car each year, can only have negative health, psychological and social impacts, leading to isolation, stress, anger and weight gain. And how do many drivers compensate for time lost in traffic? By using smart phones to ‘connect’ – illegally of course – with the world outside.
Regrettably, however, the authorities seem unwilling to contemplate a gradual retreat of the motor car from the centre. In contrast, across Europe, bicycle (and scooter) rental schemes, allowing residents to beat the traffic, have multiplied. Networks of cycle paths are mushrooming: for example Paris’s cycle lane infrastructure will, by 2020 have been expanded by 50% in the space of just five years.[ii] Elsewhere, city councils are lowering speed limits, introducing car bans and car-free days, pedestrianising streets and replacing car with bike parks.
The ‘slow’ Dublin city centre, in tandem with the legacy of inept and corrupt planning for the suburbs, along with high car insurance and ancillary costs, present Dublin with severe challenges in terms of retaining both Irish and International business.
Indeed, a 2018 study by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce found 73% of companies were finding traffic was having an increasingly negative impact on their businesses.[iii] In addition, heavy car reliance pollutes, causing both smog detrimental to human health, especially from diesel engines, as well as CO2 emissions generating climate chaos.
One obvious way of addressing these problems would be to develop more extensive, comfortable and efficient public transport for Dublin; especially as without implementation of a pragmatic, but innovative, public transport infrastructure, any hope of expanding business and employment in the capital should be set aside.
Dublin’s public transport network can be improved by diminishing distances between stops. Denser public transport can be delivered to the city (and the rest of the country too) swiftly, and without incurring vast additional infrastructure and capital costs. Importantly, adverse environmental and social impacts – such as we are witnessing with the BusConnects ‘mega-project’ – can easily have be avoided by liaising with community groups and other interested parties.
The important question to address is how Dublin’s public transport network will alleviate traffic congestion. And after half a dozen incomplete Bus Network improvement plans (anyone remember the ‘Quality Bus Corridors Network’ and the ‘Swiftway BRT’ plans?) pompously rolled out over the last fifteen years – all of them expensive and requiring costly compulsory purchase orders – it is high time to think outside the box.
A Public Good
The problem is that all previous bus network improvement plans – with BusConnects only the latest – accept the accommodation of other types of road users as axiomatic, including, of course, motorists. This, unavoidably, demands road-widening: usually requiring land acquisitions to establish minimal widths of twenty metres, i.e. a two-metre-wide footpath, a two-metre-wide cycle track, a three-metre-wide bus lane and a three-metre-wide traffic lane, on both sides of the road.
If brought to fruition, twenty-metre-wide BusConnects corridors will, unavoidably, split neighbourhoods apart. Pedestrians will be channelled into designated ‘safe’ crossing points with communities separated by concrete corridors – what transport planners refer to as ‘pipelines’.
But what if there were less cars on the streets? Would this really reduce the need for additional space and infrastructure, and diminish impacts?
This brings us to the idea of recognising the use of public transport as a Public Good which should become free for passengers, thereby encouraging people out of their cars. Yes free – why not?
Access to public transport might become viewed as a fundamental human right, akin to the provision of healthcare and education. Indeed, in more than a hundred cities in the world it is possible to ride on a tram, metro or bus for free – and without having to evade an inspector!
From the buses of Porto Real in Portugal, to the Miami Metro in Florida, and from Noyon in France and Chengdu in China, free public transport is a successful urban mobility option for mitigating both the environmental and sociological impacts of transport. The latest place to embrace the concept is Luxembourg – it will soon be the first country with all public transport free.[iv]
There are a number of powerful arguments for making public transport free – or at least below the cost of operation and maintenance – provided either by government directly or through the private sector.
For starters, private cars impose numerous costs on society that drivers do not pay for. Every time we start our diesel, petrol, hybrid engines – or even electric, as long as fossil fuels power stations – we generate air pollution, and clog up roads for other users. These costs are measurable in environmental damage, health care costs, and wasted time, which non-motorists pay for indirectly, through taxation.
Economists and planners have long advocated that motorists should pay these costs directly, allowing people to make rational choices. Well-designed congestion pricing schemes, such as those found in Singapore, London, Stockholm and Milan, ensure that private vehicle drivers pay more if they choose a congested road – just as Dublin’s Port Tunnel has different rates depending on the time of day.
A variation on a congestion pricing scheme for Dublin would be an additional levy on fossil fuels, which could be dedicated to relieving air pollution thereby raising respiratory health.
In the absence of a congestion pricing plan for Dublin, however, and powerful opposition to it, subsidising public transport, which gets people to drive less than they might otherwise, is an feasible alternative – albeit, the combination of both measures would be optimal.
Everyone benefits when people can travel around more safely and freely
Making public transport freely available for all should create greater labour flexibility, with companies potentially choosing from a larger pool of employees, as well as accessing more suppliers who might not be deterred by high transport costs. Moreover, people would be more inclined to take more impromptu, and safer, outings for shopping, leisure or social purposes. It might save many rural pubs.
Naturally, removing the financial cost of public transport to users would not make it ‘free’, as someone would have to foot the bill. It can be demonstrated, however, that using taxation revenue to pay for public transport would make everyone wealthier, in the wider sense of the word.
Permitting ‘car sprawl’, i.e. unrestricted growth in car sales and road infrastructure with scant regard for urban planning, makes no economic sense, as profits generated by millions of generally single-occupant vehicles come with significant costs. The waste of resources, and other social costs are ‘conveyed’ from the calculation of these profits, and passed on to the taxpayer, future generations, and sometimes other countries.
Implementation Challenges
The concept of free public transport poses several implementation challenges. Amongst the arguments potentially adduced against it are as follows:
It would require more public transport units to accommodate increased demand, which harms the environment, just as cars do.
Indeed, if everyone used public transport, more, polluting buses would be required. In addition, upgrading our public transport infrastructure is energy-intensive, drawing largely on coal and other fossil fuels. But it would take many cars off the road and reduce the overall impact in the short term, while bus manufacturers could be incentivised to produce cleaner, more comfortable, and ‘smarter’ vehicles.
With our level of public debt we cannot afford to spend money on frivolous projects like this.
In fact public transport is the opposite of debt: when carefully and strategically planned it brings tangible rewards, and more importantly reduces carbon emissions; especially important with the Irish state facing hundreds of millions in fines for failure to reduce emissions that are the third highest in the EU.[v]
Car sales would drop significantly.
Indeed they would if public transport was free for everyone to get to work. Families would no longer feel the need for two or more cars. This would likely hurt the (non-indigenous) car industry, but manufacturing resources could be redeployed into making buses, or even bicycles.
Some of our public transport is terrible – this would just increase the pressure.
Regrettably, much of Dublin’s transport network is currently over-crowded and unreliable, and this is precisely why government investment is required to accommodate demand and increase capacity.
Public transport service providers cannot be expected to provide a reliable service without a financial incentive.
This argument rests on the assumption that when we pay nothing, and heaps of people are using the service, we cannot expect top-notch customer service. The ultimate client, however, in this case is the state and a simple clause in each public transport services contract could require all services to achieve a minimum standard of quality, based on the users expectations.
Many people dislike public transport and would never use it.
There are of course people who will stick to their cars whenever possible, but they would at least start bearing the real cost of using them.
Combating Climate Chaos
Introducing free public transport would reduce the number of cars on the road. A moderately loaded bus can carry approximately eighty passengers during a typical commuting hour. Compared to the typical car occupancy of a maximum average of two passengers at peak hour, it is a straightforward calculation that a single bus would remove up to forty cars from the road.
A strategically designed and free bus-based city public transport system with, say, a fleet of five hundred buses could thus potentially take twenty-thousand cars off the road; almost half the number of cars currently dominating Dublin city’s centre.
In all likelihood many of us would choose not to own a private car – perhaps renting where the need arose – thereby reducing the volume on the road. Repeated across dozens of cities in a country and thousands worldwide, free public transport could be a game changer in terms of transport emissions.
Any government’s job is to provide services for the people. Free public transport is an example of a great service available to all. Taxation is already devoted to healthcare, education and road maintenance, so why not make provision for a service conferring such wide-ranging benefits? Moreover, it should go without saying that any government should be taking care of the environment we pass on to our children.
By making free public transport an aspect of the social contract, the government would be compelled to bring about improvements as required. With more users – especially vocal ones – deficiencies would be exposed. Reducing the number of cars on the road would also yield space for footpath and cycle track improvements.
If public transport were offered for free more people would surely avail of it. Indeed, more of us would already be using public transport if it did not cost so much; ridiculously, driving into town is often ‘cheaper’ once you own a car and paid insurance.
Enhanced Wellbeing
A study conducted by the city of Copenhagen linked regular public transport use to a lower mortality rate, a happier disposition, and greater labour productivity. Public transport users take up to three times the amount of exercise per day compared to drivers, simply from walking between stops and their destinations.[vi]
Public transport also brings financial benefits to communities: not only directly by providing jobs in the industry itself, but also by creating a key component to a healthy business ecosystem, and by increasing mobility options for both commuters and customers.
It can assist in shaping a more active society, where people accept and respect each other, interact more, learning how to live together – the core elements of a healthy polity – all for free!
Such an idea may seem revolutionary for a car-dominated city such as Dublin, but actually it’s more like a reversion to how it operated in the past. The city existed for at least a millennium before the motor car arrived on the scene. Its city centre was built around pedestrian traffic, which had to be forcefully adjusted as car ownership expanded. Cars never made sense in Dublin, but they found a way in and have become part of the urban tissue. Now that must change.
Will we ever have free public transport in Ireland? Not anytime soon I fear. It would take considerable campaigning for this to occur. But we must do something to alleviate the insane traffic congestion in our city, and awaken to the responsibility of addressing the climate chaos afflicting the planet.
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The following is a submission to the Citizens Assembly on Dublin by a former Lord Mayor of Dublin Dermot Lacey, who argues for a new regional approach to Dublin that would include provision for a directly elected mayor with real power and responsibility for the whole city.
Throughout the developed world Regional and Local Government is taking its rightful place at the heart of sustainable decision making. From the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland and Welsh Assemblies in the United Kingdom, to the Federal Parliaments in Germany, the Cantons in Switzerland local-relevant decision-making is growing. One of the founding principles of the European Union is subsidiarity – however that particular guiding principle seems to have been lost somewhere in the Irish Sea.
Here in the Republic of Ireland, with a nod to European Union objectives but a more stellar eye on European money we have invented three new Regional Assemblies; the Southern Regional Assembly, the Northern and Western Regional Assembly and here on the east coast and adjacent counties the Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly.
Comprised of Councillors from twelve Local Authorities this artificial construct has no real power, no funds, no democratic mandate and Government ignores it at their pleasure. Meanwhile Dublin the only City Region by real international standards and the economic powerhouse of the State is deprived of any co-ordinating body covering the full County. Without such a co-ordinating body, without a Regional Authority for the Dublin area with power and resources Ireland is the principal loser. So, what do I want for Dublin? But then again What Dublin do we mean when we refer to it?
Dublin is often described as the ‘Fair City’ – but is it? Is it a city that treats its people equally? Is it fairly run? Does it treat all its citizens fairly? Does it protect its culture, heritage and environment fairly and sensibly? Is it a democratic city? Is democracy necessary? Or is democratic consultation and decision making central to the future of Dublin. Does any of this matter?
The answer, of course, is that yes, it does matter – or at least it matters to me. Dublin is my home. It always has been and I hope, it always will be. It was and will again, be one of the finest cities of Europe. It is a great and beautiful city, ideally located between the scenic natural beauty of the Dublin Mountains and the incredibly clean and majestic Dublin Bay. A Bay that has been so sadly neglected and indeed damaged by decisions taken by unelected Public Servants and in reality, unaccountable Politicians from outside its borders.
It is a city with a great history and culture; a city of literature and with a genuine appreciation for the arts; above all it is a city and county with a resilient people still enthused by the notion of community.
Unlike Margaret Thatcher, Dubliners do believe there is such a thing as society. This is demonstrated every day of every week in the volume of community work, youth and sports activity and community activism actively engaged in by, and for, Dubliners. Perhaps this has never been expressed so forcibly as it was during the Covid crisis and now in the response to the War in Ukraine.
It is also, however, a city of unnecessary complexity. It is a deeply undemocratic city, with decisions made at a remove from the people of Dublin and, in far too many cases, at a remove from the democratically elected representatives of those people.
It is poorly served by the administrative and governance structures imposed on it by successive national governments. It is scandalously under-funded and under-resourced. It has a confused transport system, unacceptable poverty, inadequate housing and a divided and unequal series of communities. None of this is necessary. We need to imagine a better future for Dublin and we need to create that better future for Dublin.
The tragedy for Dublin and Dubliners is that when times were good and finance available, we had one of the least imaginative, backward looking governments in the history of our state. It is true also that when times were bad and the opportunity for real reform was there that Local Government was set back decades by the pretence of “reform” that was “Putting People First”.
It is why we need a new approach to build a new and better Dublin. It is but one of the many reasons why we need a New Deal for Dublin – a Fair Deal for Dublin. It is also a very clear example of why the model suggested by a few commentators of introducing a Minister for Dublin, is not the answer.
Can we solve Dublin’s problems – yes we can. Can we make it a better place for all – yes we can. Can we have a democratic and inclusive Dublin – yes we can. The pertinent question is how do we achieve at least some of these objectives? How do we make Dublin the inclusive and democratic county that it can be and I want it to be? How do we create our own future for Dublin?
The answer lies in real reform of our local government structures. This should not have had to wait until, as some would have it, the country’s problems are fixed. Local government reform is not an optional extra – it is, in my view, integral to our country’s future. Ireland can be transformed through the reform of local government. We cannot do it any other way. It is not possible to reform our political, economic and public sectors if we do not at the same time reform local government.
In the case of Dublin, my preference would be for a directly elected Mayor and a new Dublin Regional Assembly. In the course of this submission I hope to outline why that is the case.
While Dublin is a changing city and county, it is a city and county that administratively and politically does not work. The city and county does not work for citizens, for business, for communities, or for Ireland. Despite it being the engine of growth for the economy and the fact that, in a European context, it is the only real city-region in the country, the governance of Dublin has largely been ignored and any real reform avoided since the establishment of the State.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) categorises city regions by their population size and the smallest size considered is 1.5million (OECD Territorial Reviews: Competitive Cities in the Global Economy 2006).
Tinkering with the boundaries in breaking up the old County Councils, thereby reducing the power to seriously drive the region, and a collapse in funding have sadly been the hallmarks of government intervention over the last decade or so. Incompetent interference, followed by inertia, has been the closest thing to positive action from those on ‘the inside’ those really in power.
The legislation introduced by former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD, seriously set back local Government in Dublin and abolished the Dublin Regional Authority. While much political comment since has been on his unwise abolition of Town Councils the reality is that it was bad, very bad for Dublin.
Politically it gave more power to bureaucrats, reduced the powers of Councillors, removed a realistic Regional dimension and imposed more work, on more un-asked for Councillors. In doing so the Minister simply compounded the indefensible record of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government – a Department, which one well known commentator, has described as the one Department of State actively hostile to the three nouns in its [then] title, Environment, Heritage and Local government.
Any real reform proposals must provide for a better future for Dublin because a better future for Ireland will in reality be predicated on Dublin sustaining real economic growth and administrative and governmental cohesiveness.
No doubt any serious changes will meet political, departmental and institutional opposition to real reform. For far too long power and authority in Ireland has rested with unaccountable mandarins in government departments and their agents, whether via quasi-independent agencies or through the city and county managers process.
Real change is, however, necessary. Irish people are open to new ideas and new ways of doing business and exercising governance. With courage and vision, and above all a serious commitment to reform from the top, we can have a meaningful, inclusive, democratic and relevant local government system. We can make Dublin work and in turn make our country work.
Regrettably, what is equally true is that despite all the recent talk of reform, changes to our local government structure hardly featured at all in public debate. Reform of governance at a local level was discussed not at all during recent General Elections. The truth however, in my view, is that is simply impossible to reform our national political and public sectors if we do not start on the ground, in our communities and in the chambers of our city and county councils and the regional authorities.
Before any decisions are taken, or any reforms contemplated, we need agreement on what is meant by local government itself. Quite simply, we need a collective ‘buy in’ on local government. For me, local government is about the delivery of comprehensive public services in a manner required, demanded and agreed to by the local community. It must be about the provision of services, in an accountable and democratic manner, to the people in receipt of, or entitled to, those services. Without these attributes it is neither local nor government. Sadly, here in Ireland, that is the present reality.
Bemoaning the plight of local government is also easy. There are library shelves bursting with reports and analysis. I would like to be more positive and constructive. There are others, more capable than I, who can comment on the national situation. I hope they do. I want to concentrate on Dublin. It is a City I had the privilege to serve as Lord Mayor and a county the privilege to serve, as Cathaoirleach of the Dublin Regional Authority and as Cathaoirleach of the Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly – the only person to have held the three roles.
In the context of this submission as well as defining local government itself, we need also to define: where and what we mean by Dublin; Is it the City? Is it the County? Is it the Dublin region?; or, as some would have it, is it the larger Metropolitan area? While there are many reasons to define a new governance area as being the greater Dublin area or, as it has been described, the ‘drive-to-work’ Dublin area, my view is that here in Ireland, rightly or wrongly, local identity is important, loyalty is important and a clear definition of boundary, in a governmental context, is important. In all respects, therefore, I believe we should focus on the traditional County of Dublin.
It is this County of Dublin that needs our focus and attention. It is this area that has been and will again be the engine of our economy. Rebuilding and growing that Dublin will help once again to grow our economy and strengthen our society. It will help Ireland grow and develop. Part of my role as an advocate for Dublin, is to dispense with the old and very outdated argument of ‘Dublin versus the rest’. The reality is that what is good for Dublin is invariably good for Ireland. Our future as a people is intertwined. Dublin is our collective capital.
For Ireland’s sake, Dublin needs to run Dublin. That is the very essence of this argument. The present situation, in which disinterested quangos (largely unaccountable state bodies and often disconnected governmental departments) interfere in the affairs of the county without any appreciable knowledge or sympathy, cannot be allowed to continue. Power and authority currently lies with the unelected and the unaccountable, whilst the elected city and county councillors see powers removed on a near daily basis. Dublin deserves better. Ireland needs better.
The existing situation in which more than 60 bodies have responsibility for traffic is the most obvious example of this. At least nine separate bodies are responsible for Dublin Bay and most absurdly national government appoints the St. Patrick’s Day Festival Committee, which largely, though not exclusively, affects Dublin. There are far more examples than this. Surely this cannot continue into the future.
Perhaps, more than anything else, Dublin needs someone who understands how things work, or more accurately, how things do not work, and who will stand up for the city and county. To create that better future that we seek, Dublin needs a spokesperson for the whole community. It needs someone, who can be a political advocate armed with the mandate of direct election. That is why I believe that central to any meaningful reform must be a longer-term Mayor and that direct election would provide the mandate. The Mayor needs to be a champion for Dublin who will market and promote the region internationally and who will stand up for it nationally.
The proposal to have an election for a Mayor of Dublin would give us an opportunity to create that voice. The election campaign itself would provide an opportunity for a collective debate on the future of Dublin.
The visibility and accountability of such an office holder would considerably help inform the public on the choices involved on issues of concern. That is why, with all its imperfections and limited powers, I welcomed the publication by former Minister for the Environment and Local Government, John Gormley of the Local Government (Mayor and Regional Authority of Dublin) Bill draft legislation in 2010. All political institutions grow and evolve over time, and I believe the implementation of that Bill would have proved no exception.
That legislation clarified some issues. It specified the county as the area involved and provided a new structure for the regional authority. The proposal that the Mayor would chair the authority, to whom he or she would be accountable, was, I believe, a rare defect in the draft legislation.
Similarly the proposal to establish a Regional Development Board was unclear, as was its composition and democratic mandate. Unless the public service agencies are accountable to this body, and not equal participating parties as at present, it would not have worked.
The creation of the proposed Dublin Transport Council was inadequate but a significant step in the right direction. Yes, there were deep flaws and absences from the legislation. There was a real lack of integration of services and roles. There was uncertainty about the relationship with the department and the Minister.
It was however an important start – unfortunately one not taken. While some Political Parties are once again raising the issue and this Citizens Assembly has been established it does seem to me to be a “can kicking” exercise and I am not convinced that the permanent Government will do anything to facilitate it happening. Nevertheless, I believe there is still a need for the debate and for the campaign to continue. It remains an aspiration worth pursuing.
The absence of an independent source of funding was a major flaw in previous proposals and must be addressed whenever a future government is serious about reform.
Many believe that we need more than the simple introduction of a directly elected mayor, and they are right. A new mayor can and must drive further reform and a real debate about the future of Dublin.
Two of the arguments used against the introduction of a directly elected mayor are cost and the issue of ‘celebrity’ candidates. Both are bogus. Properly structured, a newly elected Mayor, working with the Dublin Regional Authority, will see the need for many of the existing agencies reduced and or incorporated into the mayoral structure with significant savings.
On the ‘celebrity’ candidate issue, the answer is simple: we are meant to live in a democracy, so let the people decide. I have great faith that, subject to a fair and balanced media presentation, the electorate will decide intelligently. While not the subject of this essay, it is this issue of media coverage of a campaign – the absence of a fair and informed media on Local government matters – that would concern me most.
This is particularly true of the national broadcasting service – RTÉ – whose understanding and knowledge of local government is virtually non-existent and access to the airwaves is a rare privilege accorded only to a chosen few. Clear guidelines for their coverage of a campaign and debate on the issues would be crucial if genuine progress is to be made.
It is clear to anyone interested that our current system of local government requires renewal and reform. Clear too is the fact that the various local councils are directed, unofficially, but in reality, by city and county managers, answerable to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the permanent officials therein. It is striking that the term of office for a city and county manager is seven years – which can and usually is extended to ten years and that under our current system the term for a mayor is usually one year. Longevity itself is power.
Understanding that relationship is the key to understanding our present problems and breaking that relationship is the key to resolving them for the future. The proposals in the Labour/Fine Gael Programme for Government to abolish the role of county managers and replace them with ‘Chief Executive Officers’ was executed but the change in title was all that was delivered – not a change in role or powers.
None of this should be taken as a personal reflection on the four very fine public servants, Frank Feely, John Fitzgerald, John Tierney and Owen Keegan with whom I have worked during their terms as Dublin City Manager/Chief Executive. They all served Dublin well. It is the structural and relationship issue and problem that need to be resolved.
I believe that Dublin desperately needs a longer term Mayor who would serve for the full local government term, and a Mayor directly elected by the people who would have the authority and mandate needed to serve for such a term. We also need substantial reform of the structure of the four local authorities in the Dublin city and county areas. Such a Mayor working with the members of the Council and with sufficient powers and resources is needed now more than ever to rescue this city and county from the clutching, incompetent and disinterested control of central government and administration.
Shamefully, the sections of the 2001 Local Government Act, enabling this, courageously and correctly introduced by Minister Noel Dempsey, were reversed by his successor, Minister Martin Cullen.
More shamefully, the Green Party Minister, John Gormley, was thwarted in his efforts to introduce plans for a directly elected mayor and Regional Authority. Even more shamefully was the pretence of reform introduced by Minister Phil Hogan at a time when people were crying out for real reform. It was perhaps the greatest wasted opportunity of all.
There are many ways in which real reform could be achieved. I want to propose a simple model that I believe would be in the best interests of the future of Dublin city and county. While there may be debate about the appropriateness of retaining the existing four Dublin local authorities I believe that it is better, for the present, they remain. This would also allow that for a period of five years they would continue to elect their Chairpersons/ (Lord) Mayors in line with current practice.
I propose that the number, jurisdiction and roles of the four existing Local Authorities should be reviewed after a period of five years, or one term of office, of a proposed Dublin Regional Assembly. This period should be used to assess the possibility of introducing a series of genuinely local District Councils – perhaps along the lines of the Municipal District Councils that exist outside Dublin. These would serve populations of approximately 100,000 people each. It would also allow for a timely debate and gradual merging of the roles of Lord Mayor and Mayor. Whilst for many this is an obvious step, I believe that there are distinct roles and we should assess the respective merits of retaining them as separate roles or combining them into one.
Essentially these different roles stem from the unique requirement of the Lord Mayor of the City of Dublin to regularly act as the official host for guests to Dublin and Ireland and often as a sort of unofficial Ambassador for the whole country. There is also the role of Civic Cheer Leader and Ceremonial office holder for appropriate civic occasions. The new role envisaged for a Mayor for Dublin will be more executive and more political. I remain open to persuasion as to which is the best way forward.
Contrary to common perception Ireland has a very low ratio of elected councillor per head of population. The following table gives some idea of the European average. It is worth noting that the UK figures do not take account of the existence of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. These bodies have respectively: Northern Ireland Assembly 108 members; Scottish Parliament 129 members; and the Welsh Assembly 60 members.
Country
Country Population (m)
No. of councils
Average population per council
Population per councillor
France
59.6
36,700
1,600
118
Austria
8.2
2,350
3,500
209
Sweden
8.8
310
28,400
256
Germany
83
15,300
5,400
350
Finland
5.2
452
11,500
410
Italy
57.7
8,100
7,100
608
Spain
40
8,100
4,900
610
Belgium
10.3
589
17,500
811
Greece
10.6
1,033
10,300
1,075
Denmark
5.4
275
19,600
1,115
Portugal
10.1
308
32,800
1,131
Netherlands
16
548
29,000
1,555
Ireland
4
114
35,000
2,500
U.K.
59.6
468
127,350
2,603
Source: Hughes, Clancy, Harris and Beetham (2007), Power to the People: Assessing Democracy in Ireland. New Island.
In Dublin the figure is a staggering figure of 12,400 people to each Councillor.
Such District Councils, as I propose, would, over time, replace the existing, South Dublin, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Councils and Dublin City Council. In order to enhance a sense of local identity and ownership, these Councils should be based on real communities of location and interest. Areas such as Tallaght, Lucan, Swords, Dun Laoghaire and Ballyfermot are obvious possibilities for this. With the increasingly global nature of our world real social cohesion in the future can be best enhanced through the promotion of the local and community awareness.
Pending completion of the overall reform project there is no reason why such pilot town or district councils could not be established at an early stage. Composition of these councils should also be used to create greater equality in terms of councillors and population with the rest of the country and a consequential equalisation of Seanad voting rights if the Seanad is to retain its present form.
I am also suggesting that in order to provide a local/national link that the directly elected mayor would be ex-officio member of Seanad Éireann and that a similar provision be made should directly elected mayors be introduced for the other larger cities. This should be done without increasing the overall membership of Seanad Éireann and could be done in tandem with other proposed reforms of the Seanad.
Dublin also needs an over-arching strategic regional approach. In that context I suggest that a new Dublin Regional Assembly be established. Such an assembly would be comprised of about 30 members. This would entail six constituencies electing five members each. In order to ensure best internal regional balance there would be two north-side constituencies, two south-side constituencies and two to the west of the county. This would enable a sufficiently broad based (political and regional) membership to ensure a robust and inclusive assembly. The assembly would have one committee for each of the policy areas listed in the next section.
An alternative model would be to have three such constituencies, north, south and west with five members each leading to the election of what would effectively be a fifteen-member executive for the county. Each policy area would be overseen by three members of the assembly who would have executive responsibility for the area involved. In this scenario, the overall scrutiny and monitoring role would be provided by members drawn from the four Dublin local authorities on a basis similar to the previous Dublin Regional Authority.
The Leader of the Assembly would be the Directly Elected Mayor of Dublin.
I am suggesting that the powers and responsibilities of this suggested assembly would be as follows:
1) Land Use Planning and Strategic Development. This would deal with devising strategic planning guidelines and monitoring and planning development across the region. Responsibility would also include implementation of national spatial strategies and economic development.
2) Traffic and Transport Co-ordination. The assembly would be the Dublin Transport Authority and would provide for an accountable and integrated approach to traffic and transport, including responsibility for all public transport, active mobility and taxi provision and regulation in the Dublin region.
3) Social and Affordable Housing. The assembly would replace the existing agencies in the Dublin area and co-ordinate housing provision and allocation across the Dublin Region. It would also have responsibility for developing new initiatives for housing provision and responding to the issue of homelessness.
4) Dublin Bay, Waterways and Mountains. These great assets of the region are presently largely under-appreciated. The Dublin Mountains Partnership initiated by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils has shown the possibility that does exist with imagination in this area.
5)The Assembly would also have a coordinating and/or monitoring role in relation to county-wide services provided by agencies such as the HSE, Education Training Boards, Enterprise Ireland, tourism development, policing and relations with other regional authorities and relevant bodies. One of the first tasks in this area would be to develop coterminous boundaries for all public service providers in the Dublin region.
Some of the above would be done in conjunction and co-operation with the existing local authorities.
I am also suggesting that the Dublin Regional Assembly would provide a forum to which, and in which, the Dublin Members of the European Parliament could report back and consult on issues of relevance to their work. This would significantly enhance engagement with the European institutions and improve the opportunity for Dublin and Dubliners to engage with and benefit from European Union initiatives.
In addition to the elected Assembly I want to see established a Dublin Civic Forum, comprising representatives of civic society across the county. The forum members would receive no payment and would convene as appropriate to advise the Assembly on matters of relevance.
I have previously suggested that the Dublin Regional Assembly should be based in the old Parliament Building on College Green with the remainder of the building housing an Institute for Dublin Affairs and a much-needed Dublin Museum building on the fantastic work of the Little Museum of Dublin. The Institute would be a collaborative model drawing on the expertise of the third-level institutes in Dublin and would act as a policy feeder to the Assembly.
The old Parliament building would also be the location for meetings of the Civic Forum. This could all be done in conjunction with other proposals to develop the building as a National Cultural Centre and the creation of a major Public Plaza to the front of the buildings. Transferring ownership of these former Parliament Building might provide some recompense for the €8.5billion pumped into Bank of Ireland and relocating the bank headquarters to Docklands might help the rejuvenation of that area.
There is also much scope for the development of new forms of democratic participation such as citizens’ juries and participative budgeting. These could be facilitated through the Dublin Regional Assembly office and could enable citizens to engage with public service providers in a meaningful way.
There is a widespread consensus amongst politicians, commentators, academics and the public that we need to reform local government. This is articulated regularly in a general rather than specific sense and is thrown into the wider debate about Political Reform. However, that is where the consensus ends. The promise offered by the optimism of the Better Local Government project initiated by Brendan Howlin TD, and the early enthusiasm of Noel Dempsey TD, were followed by inaction, inertia and, on occasions, outright hostility to democratic local government, by the very ministers and the government department that should have been its champions, reformers and defender.
Of course we need real reform, and of course we need Councillors to take more responsibility. As Lord Mayor of Dublin, in difficult circumstances, I did accept such responsibility in relation to the city budget. Since then the majority in favour of the budget has increased with each passing year.
A directly elected mayor should only be one small – though important – part of a total reform of the failing system of local government. Powers which have been stripped from elected representatives and handed over lock, stock and barrel to city and county managers, effectively, if not officially, answerable to the minister of the day, need to be restored to city and county councillors across the country. If we are truly to build a better future for Dublin and for Ireland, Local government must be the heart that drives that forward.
The issue of the financing of local government also needs extensive review. Quite simply there is no real governance role without independent finance raising responsibilities. There must be a clear link between local spending and local revenue and the accountability of the councillor. The successful operation of the BIDS (Business Improvement District Scheme) scheme in Dublin city centre shows that there is a willingness to work such initiatives if there is sufficient benefit and adequate explanation and consultation. Local government also requires more opportunities to introduce appropriate local taxation, subject of course to the law and the right of the people to comment on same through local election campaigns and possibly local referenda.
At present, Dublin City Council is losing out on millions of euro every year (€30 million for 2022 alone) from commercial rates which Government has abdicated its responsibility to pay. While applicable across the entire country, this has hit Dublin more than anywhere else and is a further example of the cost involved in being the capital city.
Since the expedient abolition of domestic rates in 1977 every local authority has lost significant income. The promise to allocate a sum equal to the amount that would have been raised has been consistently broken. I have calculated that the loss to Dublin City Council since that decision was imposed has been in the order of E8billion. Other decisions imposed such as National Wage Agreements increased that with local government denied any opportunity to participate at the negotiating table. The concept and practice of ‘social partnership’, it would appear, included everyone except the democratically elected arm of local government. Once again, as in so many instances, it was a case of National Government decides but Local Government pays. A proposal some years ago by members of Dublin City Council to introduce a €1 per night hotel/bed tax for all visitors would have, on average, delivered approximately €28million additional resources to the city. Despite the fact that, at the time, some hotels were charging rates of up to €500 per night, the proposal met with outright hostility from the trade and, as ever, a compliant, not to say hostile Department and Government, refused to introduce the necessary legislation. This money could, and would, have been invested directly into providing better experiences and facilities for all, residents and visitors alike, and would, over a four-year period and spread across the Dublin county, have delivered approximately €180million to make Dublin a better place at relatively little cost or inconvenience.
A reduction in the number of agencies and quangos, with their roles and responsibilities transferred to local councils would enable swifter and more ‘on the ground’ decision making. It would ensure a better integration and delivery of services and would also save money.
National Forum on the Financing of Local government
I have previously proposed that a National Forum on the Financing of local government should be established as a matter of urgency. The Forum would draw its membership from the main political parties, the two councillor representative bodies and the social partners. It would be given six months to a year, to agree an approach that would provide sufficient funding, on a nationally agreed basis, and one that would allow some degree in local flexibility as to appropriate local fund raising.
Introducing the direct election of longer- term Mayors is not the panacea for all our problems but it would be a major starting point. Quite simply, the people whom we are meant to serve deserve better. The current mess suits no one except the mandarins in the Custom House and their temporary ministerial masters. This cannot be allowed to prevail. We need to create something better. We need to dream of a better future and to turn those dreams into realities. We need to create and drive forward a Dublin that is all the things we want it to be.
But let us do more than just imagine – let us truly create it. We have an opportunity to put behind us the mistakes and the errors of the past and to learn from them. As a society we need not be bound by old agreements, old alliances or old commitments. Indeed we must not be bound by them. We have the opportunity and duty to fight back and to stand up for real local decision making and to build a truly inclusive, progressive and sustainable city and county. We can and must build a better future for Dublin and Dubliners. In short this Assembly has an opportunity to stand up for Dublin. Let us truly make it “One Dublin for many Dubliners”. In doing so, we are also standing up for Ireland. If we don’t, no one else will.
This is a personal submission from Councillor Dermot Lacey.
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A month on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European states, including Ireland, are faced with some of the most significant challenges in decades. How should the West react? With humanitarian aid? With issuing a welcome to refugees? With weapons? With direct military interventions such as imposing a ‘no fly zone’ and therefore potentially extending the conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders?
It’s a pity that the European Union has in effect forfeited a potential diplomatic role, due to the decision of some member states to supply arms to one of the belligerents (albeit the victim of aggression), to the extent that diplomatic efforts at securing a settlement are being hosted by Turkey under Erdogan, which is not exactly a country renowned for protecting civil liberties or democratic values.
It’s also a pity that the popular uproar greeting Putin’s invasion has not been seen in the past few years in response to other conflicts, including the war in Yemen which has raged, without an end in sight, since 2014.
The pictures shown here are of a protest organized by theIrish Anti-War Movementin an effort to raise awareness of the tragedy Yemenis are still experiencing, as well as a call for Ireland’s neutrality or non-alignment to be maintained. They hope instead that the State can play a major role in leading necessary diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts around the world, including the war in Ukraine.
There now seems to be a concerted efforts on the part of the political establishment to push to formally abandon the country’s neutral status, already strained by past and current use of Shannon Airport by NATO forces.
The Irish Anti War Movement @IrishAntiWarMvt are holding a protest at 6PM at the Dáil in solidarity with Ukraine for peaceful solutions to the war and to defend Ireland's neutrality.
Patricia McKenna addressing the crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the GPO, Dublin.Crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the GPO, Dublin.Ibrahim Hashem addressing the crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the GPO, Dublin.Crowd marching at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in towards the Saudi Embassy, Dublin.
Crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 marching towards the Saudi Embassy, Dublin.Crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the Dáil Éireann, Dublin.
crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the Saudi Embassy, Dublin.Richard Boyd Barrett TD addressing the crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the Saudi Embassy, Dublin.Abdulaziz Almoayyad addressing the crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the Saudi Embassy, Dublin.Ivana Bacik TD addressing the crowd at the Irish anti-war movement on the 26/03/22 in front of the Saudi Embassy, Dublin.
Promoter, venue and band manager, Conal Lee reflects on the experience of musicians over the course of lockdowns, and considers the ongoing difficulities for musicians and venues in Dublin, as well as the challenges of dealing with new controls.
Conal Lee.
How have you survived through the lockdown?
Having an enforced break, albeit as a result of the pandemic, was needed for two or three months as I had been working non-stop for a long time, and I was not going to take a break of own accord anyway. But the novelty soon wore off as I began itching to get back to work and start creating. My mind and wallet needed it. Unfortunately, there was very little to do. I could not create live music events, which is mainly what I do.
What was the general mood among musicians you know? Did many acts break up, or come together?
I think some musicians held a similar view that a month or two of a break was a nice opportunity to sit back and reflect on things, and record some music, but only a few months! Obviously, financially the past twenty months or so has been very, very tough on the pocket, but the effect to the mental health has gone unnoticed I feel. Musicians are artists, creative people, that need to be busy developing work and need to have that end goal of preforming the music live to an audience.
There have been some bands that have fallen away during lockdown, after not being able to meet up, rehearse and play, which develops the band and keeps the momentum alive.
What were the main challenges putting on gigs prior to the lockdown?
Running a venue dedicated to blues and jazz, it is always going to be hard to pull in a big, consistent audience as they are very niche genres, and generally attract an older crowd. So, to find the balance between putting on the right act, on the right nights, and trying to attract a younger audience by having a mix of all the sub-genres of blues and jazz can be the most tricky part. Any venue’s bar has to make money as do the musicians and sound engineer, door person and myself, so another part of it is putting enough acts into this balancing act that tend to bring a bigger, thirsty crowd.
Do you think there has been anything good to have come out of the lockdown for musicians? Are there new outdoor venues for example, or has a more tolerant attitude towards on street performance emerged?
A lot of musicians have been working a lot for years. Gigging many nights and trying to raise family etc., so the time to reflect on what was important, and then to have some time to record singles, EPs and Albums where there may not of been enough time previously.
Venus have closed and will not reopen, there are a few outdoor spaces that have popped up, but it’s of little comfort considering the amount that have closed or that just may not do live music again, as they will use the space for more drinkers/eaters to catch up financially on lost time.
Now, as we return to ‘normality’, what new challenges are you facing as a promoter?
I think many of my audience may be wary about going into a small, hundred-person capacity Blues and jazz venue. I will, like others, have to increase admission prices and do more ticketed events which most of my punters are not used too. Again, it’s generally an older crowd that attend those concerts. I’m hoping that there has not been too many bands that have broken up, as something like this could kill off these genres.
How do you feel about venues having to require prior bookings and vaccine passes?
It will suit some gigs, some audiences but not others and vaccine passes just added extra work, but if it had to be done then that’s fine.
Are there specific reforms the government could make to improve the life music offering in Ireland?
An area, or quarter if you like, that’s dedicated to top quality music or a variety of musically genres through the area seven days/nights a week.
Bigger grants for sole promoters to help run venues as there are too many big companies promoting gigs in many of the venues in town
What advice would you give to your younger self entering the music industry?
Believe more in what you are doing and stick to your ideals
What is your favourite venue in Dublin, and why?
Possibly The Sugar Club for the different types of artists performing, the regularity of the shows and the size, and space or the venue. And of course Arthur’s Blues & Jazz Club.
If you were to design a venue of your own, what would it be like?
Apart from Arthur’s, a venue dedicated to folk and traditional music.
What do you think is speical about the live music scene in Dublin?
The level of talent for a small-sized capital city. Live music is part of the city’s culture. It’s the music and arts that makes the city special.
The pandemic has changed life as we know it. We are dealing with the ‘New Abnormal’ where certain aspects of life, such as our café and pub culture are no longer viable. Alas, many places have closed down permanently due to reduced customer footfall and loss of incomes.
So, what does this mean for our social lives? As social animals we need a certain level of sociability for our mental wellbeing. This teaches us valuable life lessons for survival in different situations. We socialize to meet new people for friendship or to meet partners. Socialising differs from age group to age group. Cafés and pubs are the most common areas across generations in most countries.
In Ireland, cafés and coffee shops now operate on a socially distanced basis. Many have developed outdoor seating, which is a fantastic addition on those rare occasions of sunny weather in Ireland.
For the younger generation in pre-Covid times, socialising on weekends meant pre-drinks in someone’s house and then piling into a taxi or bus to get into town. The bars and clubs would be heaving, and you’d brush by strangers on the way to buy a drink. When it got warm, you’d nip outside to the smoking area to cool down and have a chat with friends even if you didn’t smoke.
The nights out were great. But waking up the following day at least €40 down and a pounding headache, you would have to wonder, was it really worth it? Could there be a better way to socialize?
In today’s pandemic circumstances we have an opportunity to find other ways of remaining sociable, yet safe from contagion. Phase Four of the lockdown easing measures involving the reopening of pubs has been put on hold until the 18th of September. So for now we still have to book a table to have a meal if we want a drink for the allotted time, give or take.
It is easy for some premises that already served food. But it is a bit of a pain knowing that you’re spending more than you want, all for the sake of a socially-distanced drink.
Temple Bar, Dublin. 27 March 2020. Daniele Idini/Cassandra Voices
It seems as if Germany is in two minds over how to move forward with a social experiment that went ahead in Leipzig on the 22nd of August and an anti-restriction protest being witnessed in Berlin at the start of the month.
The experiment equipped 4,000 pop music fans with tracking gadgets and bottles of fluorescent disinfectant. This is designed to allow scientists gain a clearer picture of how the spread of Covid-19 can be prevented at large indoor concerts. We’ll find out from this how easy it will be to return to a level of pre-Covid normalcy when the results are known.
Meanwhile, in Berlin on August 29th a protest against Covid-19 measures went ahead that brought out an undisclosed number of people of varying opinions on the restrictions. Many chose to avoid wearing face masks or social distance, despite the urgings of police over megaphones. A similar protest also went ahead in Dublin and also featured a lack of masks and social distancing.
Open-air Concerts
On the 11th of August an open-air concert took place at the Virgin Money Unity Arena in Gosforth Park, Newcastle, at which people were fenced off into private pens at a six feet distance with a maximum of five people for each one. This could be the short-term future of concerts and would certainly allow events to proceed and may even improve on certain aspects of the experience!
The UK’s First Socially Distanced Concert, the Virgin Money Unity Arena was built in Gosforth Park, Newcastle. The concert venue extends 480,000 square feet (or 45,000 square meters) and has 500 viewing spaces (some refer to them as “pods”), with a total of 2.500 attendees. pic.twitter.com/wQsDfp4pIj
However, in Ireland, we have not been as lucky with the weather as in Britain, which experienced a summer heatwave. Clearly it is more viable to put on outdoor concerts in warmer countries than Ireland. We do, however, have the space for outdoor concerts with the likes of Phoenix Park and other large green areas such as the Punchestown racecourse, where the Oxygen festival was held, close to Dublin city. But without a large marquee for concerts, which maintains open-air ventilation, it’s unlikely that many concerts will be able to proceed outdoors, as we enter the cooler part of the year.
In Switzerland, clubs reopened in June without physical distancing and at a reduced capacity. The creation of the Swiss Night Pass, a digital ticket, ensures that clubs, bars, and events have a list of attendees with their contact information for tracing. This became mandatory after revellers failed to provide correct information. Six people contracted the virus after a man tested positive after attending the Flamingo Club in Zurich in June, but otherwise, surprisingly, these venues have not been the occasion for super-spreader events.
Many countries plan to reopen nightclubs from September 1st. South Korea reopened nightclubs back in May, but this led to a spike in Covid-19 cases resulting in indefinite closure of all bars and clubs. New Zealand had been doing well, maintaining zero Covid-19 for a hundred days, but a recent outbreak led to another set of Level Three restrictions in Auckland, which has just recently ended. There appears to be no signs of clubs reopening there for a while yet.
Better Ways To Socialise?
So, what will these restrictions entail for sociability? And, can we find a better way to socialise?
One novel approach that could bring about a change in the way we socialise would be to revive The Muse Conversations proposed by Theodore Zeldin. Zeldin is a renowned Oxford University philosopher, historian, and author. He has been a pioneer in revealing how relationships, and emotions such as love, fear, loneliness, friendship, and ambition have evolved in different civilisations over the centuries.
The Muse Conversations brings together total strangers in pairs, for a conversation that transcends small talk. Both are given a Menu of Conversation with specific questions that guide and structure their discussion. These questions enable the pair to reflect on the details of their lives, speculate on their personal experiences, and gain a deeper understanding of one another. The idea is that this encounter will change their world for a short period of time.
Perhaps this idea of a new way of relating to one another could take place in short periods of time in a controlled environment. Indeed libraries have reopened along with the likes of community halls where this would certainly be a viable option. Another alternative could be to have The Muse Conversations in an app, in the style of dating apps. Socialising in person is still the best way to make connections as non-verbal communication such as body language and inflections or tone of voice remain important to forming lasting bonds.
Marking indicating social distancing in a cafe in Dublin. August 2020
Getting Around the Regulations
For the moment it seems that we will have to continue to reserve tables in bars and restaurants. One option is to make a second reservation to extend a social gathering, as ninety minutes is really insufficient to catch up properly with people. If others don’t live close by the chosen destination then it often just isn’t worth it, given the cost of travel and the mandatory nine euro surcharge for food, on top of the money that will be spent on drinks. This will probably lead to more indoor gatherings at houses where the social norm is to provide guests with snacks and some drinks. It’s also a lot cheaper for guests to bring their own beverage and there’s less of a time limit.
For coffee shops, it’s possible to take away beverages which doesn’t change that aspect at all. The chance to sit and work on a laptop at a café appears to still be part of the new normal, as long as they are following the same rules as restaurants.
For clubs, it remains to be seen what will happen when they officially reopen. It’s difficult to see how social distancing will work on dance floors, along with ordering drinks. If clubs increase the size of their smoking areas, it may be possible to achieve the required ventilation. And unless there’s the possibility of a club having an app to order drinks that allows distancing from patrons, it would be difficult to remove entirely the chance of contracting Covid.
The only way we can socialise with a degree of normalcy is to have more open-air events. This may have to come with a limit on numbers or even a ban on alcohol consumption. But this could work if bookings for private seating arrangements were possible as with the outdoor concert in Newcastle. Ireland should certainly look at what has been happening in the UK, and elsewhere, for inspiration of what can work for future events.
The pandemic will certainly bring huge changes to social life around the globe that will hopefully not last as long as people expect. All we can do is wait and see what happens. For now, we have to accept the new abnormal.
It all happened too fast, so quickly that we didn’t have time to fully understand. The night before we were sipping beer and eating tapas and waiting for spring to come in the warm evening breeze; the following day we were on the sofa consulting the Netflix schedule for the umpteenth time, without finding an entirely satisfactory choice.
That feeling is like after an unexpected accident, with a supernatural aftertaste. It is as if a divine finger had pushed a gigantic ‘STOP’ button, and our swirling swarm on planet Earth had been suspended; crystallized in a drop of time. One after another, the places where we went to disfrutar de la vida, ‘to enjoy life’, closed their shutters, leaving us confused and lost.
For some it was a trauma to be compelled to cook for themselves. Staying indoors in a city that has unbridled sociability as one of its calling cards is difficult, but Barcelona is still trying to maintain its atmosphere despite the lockdown.
Normally in the evenings the lights of buildings are turned off, with people outside. Lately I discovered that the building opposite my own is actually inhabited.
Yesterday I went out to dispose of the trash and do the occasional shopping we are allowed to do. As I left the door from the balconies above I heard a ripple of applause: for a moment I was moved, it seemed to me that I had become the hero in a dystopian film.
I know they weren’t applauding me, it was just a manifestation of unity in this battle, fought with heavy doses of TV series, bored yawning, punctuated by scared, masked bellboys who bring stuff up to your home. I understood these people: even applauding strangers helps fill the empty minutes.
At least to help us stop missing our previous lives, the weather has decided to remain cold, even if the cold of Barcelona is far from the perennial grey nightmare overhead in Dublin, under which I lived for eight years.
Occupying one’s time is difficult, with the bars all closed there is no possibility of drinking red vermouth with friends. I live in Barceloneta, a neighbourhood that is a peninsula kissed by the sea.
Out on the street, the police remind you to stay at home, speaking calmly into megaphones. Someone brings out their dog to take a piss. The most important road, Carrer de la Maquinista, is empty. The most famous restaurant, ‘La Bombeta’, is closed. The buzz of people’s voices is replaced by the singing of birds, unexpected protagonists in neighborhood life, the vida de barrio that we miss so much.
Flags of Catalonia are still draped from the balconies, moved by a gentle wind. At this time, these people should be my enemies on the football field, as my team, Napoli was set to face Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen, but looking at their worried and tired eyes, so similar to my own, I never felt so close to them. There will be time for confrontation, on the field. Now is the time to be close, very close. If not with our bodies, then in our hearts.
We all wonder when we will be able to walk back to the Paseo Joan de Borbò, stopping at one of the many bars to talk about stuffed bombas; or who is the greater footballer between Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi; or to watch that black-eyed chica that turns the cabeza and makes the corazon skip a beat, every time she passes by.
Such a simple thing, like shopping, has become an experience reminiscent of hours spent gaming; at times I feel I am becoming the protagonist of any chapter in the Fallout saga. The neighbourhood is deserted, everything is closed and dark. The only lights on Plaza de la Barceloneta are those emanating from the church of Sant Miquel.
In the supermarket people are afraid even to smile at you. They are not worried about touching you or being too close, they are simply afraid to recognize in you the fragility of the human condition that unites us all. Breathing inside a mask is for me, with my glasses, embarrassing: with each breath the lenses mist up, giving my vision of the surroundings a dreamlike quality.
In the meantime people are dying, the daily bulletins are becoming increasingly distressing; there is a great deal of concern, and prayers, for the situation in Madrid, but more than miracles the patients need respirators and medical personnel. Here in Barcelona, too, cuts to the health budget are being felt.
People have stopped applauding and there is silence around me, so dense and spooky that it is frightening. More than the infection, and what can happen to any of us if we are hospitalized alongside people fighting for their lives.
We are used to fight for our place in the world, but are we prepared to fight for a lifesaving hospital bed? Now we don’t want to think about it. On the sofas where we spend our days we try to feel secure. Less weak.
In the meanwhile, I’m out. I allow myself five minutes to smoke a cigarette sitting on a bench. But my mind is not free. I just cannot relax. My only thought is about how to get home and carefully spread the antibacterial soap between my hands. A little anguish peeps out: what if I caught the virus on this excursion? I already know that for the next two weeks this thought will haunt me.
But I’m not the only one: here we are, stuck between the duty to stay at home and the desire to go out. In the middle of two fires, or, as De Lucia would say, entre dos aguas. But Barcelona no se rinde – ‘Barcelona won’t give up’. It plays the rumba and waits patiently. The day when we will be allowed to leave our thirty-five-square-metre apartments is inching closer.
When I get back home, I close the door behind me. The sofa seems to look at me worriedly: “Where have you been?”, he seems to ask me. Everything is so unreal that I don’t know how to answer.
