‘Red tape and rocketing rents’ in ‘difficult Dublin’ sees flea market shut

The Dublin Flea market is to close for good at the end of the year with the organisers blaming “red tape and rocketing rents” as well as the pandemic for their decision.

The flea market was based in New Market in Dublin 8 for more than a decade before moving to the nearby Digital Hub last year.

It opened for business in 2008 and on the last Sunday of the month, it hosted stalls full of second-hand, collectibles, vintage, retro and antiques including vinyl, books, clothes and furniture.

In a statement posted on Facebook the group behind the flea market said the move to shut it down was "not a decision we made easily" adding that it was also "not a decision we feel like we had full control over.

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They blamed “unfortunate red tape and rocketing rents of the ever difficult Dublin City, where cultural spaces are at an all time low and buildings are still being demolished to make way for more hotels and overpriced office blocks.”

The “reality of the pandemic also played its part,” the statement continued with many people choosing to move away from the city centre since the public health emergency began in March 2020.

“The Dublin Flea was a focal point for us in Dublin. We invested our hearts and so much energy into it over an amazing eleven years,” the statement added. “We believe that together we created one of the country’s best and most loved markets.”

The organisers called on Dublin City “to wake up and realise it is essential to provide blank spaces for markets and experimental cultural use, as this is where so many of the seeds of contemporary culture are sown.”