Dublin Corporation is expected to decide today whether to close D'Olier Street to traffic for three hours next Thursday night in order to cater for crowds attending the official opening of a Manchester United shop.
Roches Stores, which owns the shop, has requested the corporation to close the street between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. to allow for the "thousands" of supporters it expects to attend the opening. The shop is at the O'Connell Street end of D'Olier Street.
The opening will be attended by the Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, the club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and two or three as yet unnamed players from the current squad as well as a number of former star players, including Bobby Charlton.
The focal point of the function, which organisers say will include music, speeches and an opportunity for some supporters to meet the footballers, will be a specially constructed stage outside the shopfront.
"It's hard to put an exact figure on it", said Mr Robert Ward, of Roches Stores. "But with United players being so popular at the moment, it seems safe to assume that the size of the crowd will run into thousands."
He explained that the company had requested the street closure on the grounds of safety.
A corporation official, Mr Dave Redmond, said that while the application had been under consideration for some time, the traffic department had been waiting on some final details before making a decision.
"We don't take something like this lightly and there are a lot of people who have to be consulted, including the Garda, the Fire Brigade and people on the street, before we arrive at a decision", Mr Redmond said yesterday.
Asked if he felt that a commercial promotion by a football club was a suitable reason to close a street to traffic on a busy evening in the city centre, Mr Redmond replied: "It's not that we're prepared to do it for a football club, it's more a case of one of the city's businesses making a request of us."
He confirmed that if the corporation agreed to the street closure, a "substantial fee" would be involved. He refused to disclose the amount.
During the summer, the developers of a new hotel located above the La Stampa restaurant paid the corporation £85,000 in return for the imposition of severe traffic restrictions on Dawson Street while work was carried out.
