Ambassador Theatre: Concert promoter appeals against refusal for railings to combat ‘antisocial behaviour’

Concert promoter Denis Desmond and Caroline Downey Desmond are contesting Dublin City Council’srefusal to allow the erection of railings around the Ambassador Theatre to combat “serious antisocial behaviour”.

In January, the council rejected the plan for a 1.7 metre high railing along the perimeter of the 260-year-old building due to the “severely” negative effect it would have on the “special character, setting and appearance” of the historic building on Parnell Street in Dublin 1.

However, in a strongly worded appeal lodged to An Bord Pleanála on behalf of the Desmonds’ company, Millennium Theatre Ltd, which operates the venue, by planning consultantTom Phillips said the main purpose of the railings was to ensure the safety of patrons and the public from antisocial behaviour.

Mr Phillips pointed out that the antisocial behaviour included people injecting drugs, urinating, vomiting and defecating.

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Mr Phillips said the premises were closed and were likely to remain so until the leaseholder considers it safe to reopen.

Mr Phillips said railings had previously been in place and the “re-erection” was proposed both to protect the building and for aesthetic reasons.

The theatre building has protected status and Mr Phillips contended that “protected structure status should not be used as a weapon to reduce buildings to unusable relics as opposed to facilitating their beneficial use”.

From a site visit on Sunday, February 25th, Mr Phillips included a number of graphic images with the appeal showing evidence of human faeces and the “detritus of drug taking” in the precincts of the Ambassador Theatre.

In a caption attached to one photograph, Mr Phillips commented that “unfortunately, it is difficult to photograph what a Millennium Theatre company employee is expected to clean up on a regular basis without stepping in human faeces”.

In an objection, the Dublin Civic Trust opposed the railings proposal and claimed antisocial behaviour was not evident in all parts of the premises and did not warrant the “drastic intervention” of the railings.

In the 44-page appeal, Mr Phillips responded by asking “how many photographs of vomit, faeces, human blood and hypodermic needles does the Trust require before it believes?”

“Whilst most people have sympathy for those sleeping rough – why should a Millennium Theatre employee have to risk his health on a frequent basis trying to control antisocial practices that are clearly anathema to public health?”

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