No street furniture fees in Dublin until 2023, council says

Cafes, restaurants and pubs in Dublin city will be able to put tables and chairs outside their premises free of charge for an additional year, Dublin City Council has said.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien last month announced street furniture fees would be waived for the rest of this year to facilitate outdoor dining when Covid-19 restrictions ease on June 7th.

The council has said it will extend this scheme until the end of 2022 to “help businesses struggling to recover post-Covid-19”.

Businesses still have to apply to the council for a street furniture licence. The council’s city recovery office on Thursday published street furniture guidelines for businesses, including details on business use of public spaces and the temporary Covid-19 street furniture permit application procedures.

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“These are just the latest initiatives we are working on to help the city get back on its feet,” Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu said. “We are very conscious of the financial pressure hospitality businesses across the city are under during these very difficult times.”

In Galway, the city council has announced it will close six streets to traffic for 16 weeks, starting on June 7th, to allow for outdoor dining.

Pedestrianise streets

Dominick Street Upper, Small Crane, Raven’s Terrace and Woodquay from Daly’s Place to Headford Road will be closed to traffic all day, while Dominic Street Lower and William Street West will be closed from 6pm to 11pm. The closures to traffic will remain in place until September 30th, the council said.

Meanwhile, public consultation on the council’s plan to provide additional space on Dublin’s Capel Street for outdoor dining ends on Friday.

The plans to reduce traffic and parking on Capel Street to facilitate outdoor dining when Covid-19 restrictions ease were described as unambitious and disappointing by traders, politicians and sustainable transport groups.

The council is proposing to pedestrianise a small section of the street at its northern end and to eliminate almost all on-street parking to create space for tables and chairs.

Under the proposals, expected to come into force from May 24th, a 60m section of the street, which is more than 500m long, would be fully pedestrianised. The rest of the street would be open to traffic.