Commitment from City Centre Local Political Candidates to Address the Cost of Outdoor Seating welcomed

Dublin City Businesses Welcome Commitment from City Centre Local Political Candidates
to Address the Cost of Outdoor Seating

At a Local Election breakfast hosted by DublinTown, investment in public transport, litter in the city, affordable homes for people working in the city and restrictions to planning regulations in Dublin were points also raised by local businesses.

Members of DublinTown business group came together in The Gresham Hotel today to pose questions and raise concerns to European and local election candidates during a breakfast briefing organised by the not for profit organisation.

The Times Ireland Edition’s Colette Sexton chaired the event which gave politicians a chance to hear the views of city’s business community about how they believe the city centre can be improved.

Some of the topics discussed during the questions and answers morning included:

• The cost of having outdoor seating by businesses, the fees charged by Dublin City Council are more expensive than London and New York.
• Investment in public transport
• Waste management
• Proposed upgrades to the public realm such as Liffey Street and Clarendon Street
• The unfair targeting of businesses by Dublin City Council enforcement
• The bureaucratic nature of planning permission
• The drastic cutting of cruise ship numbers by Dublin Port
• Cost of living in the city

CEO of DublinTown Richard Guiney said: “Today offered the city’s business community the opportunity of engaging with the politicians representing the city centre district. The engagement on a wide range of issues will, we believe, create a better understanding amongst all parties as to how we can work together for the betterment of the city centre. Members of the European Parliament and Dublin city councillors can do a huge amount to support business in the city by promoting enterprise friendly policies which will make our city an even more vibrant and welcoming place to live and work.

“Today showed we have a lot in common with our political representatives, from the fair enforcement of byelaws to creating a more welcoming environment including affordable outdoor seating, to the need for an enhanced 24hr public transport service. Today demonstrated there is a degree of common understanding of the issues and potential solutions.  We look forward to working with the next round city council elected representatives to make Dublin a better city for all.”

Candidates in attendance at the event included: Lord Mayor Nial Ring (independent); Cllr Ciarán Cuffe (Green); Cllr Dermot Lacey (Labour); Cllr Paddy McCartan (Fine Gael); Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil); Susan Durcan (Social Democrats)