Dublin’s digital phone boxes are not being used and are just “taking up space” on footpaths around the city, a Green Party councillor has warned.

Just over 500 calls have been made on each of Eir’s ‘digital kiosks’ since they began appearing around the city three years ago, according to new figures.

The Journal reports that 33,000 calls had been made at the 63 kiosks around the city by the end of September – an average of 524 per kiosk.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Green Party Councillor Janet Horner said Eir’s management of the public phone system has been “very irresponsible”.

“For years the public phones that they [Eir] did manage had become completely derelict,” she said.

“The wires had been cut off, they weren't being managed, they were full of graffiti and broken glass.

“We had to fight very, very hard to get Eir to actually remove or manage and clean up the kiosks that they had.

“So, their commitment to actually providing public phones that are usable, that the public can actually get any use out of is very low.”

Advertising

Councillor Horner said the new phone boxes weren’t planned with people in mind – claiming they were installed in “optimal advertising” locations.

“I think when Eir put in these new boxes, and they were dedicated almost exclusively to advertising […] people felt pretty cynical towards that,” she said.

“In a lot of cases, they are taking up a significant amount of footpath space.

“We tend to see our footpaths as just they can be used for whatever […] but footpaths are really important to have them clear and to have them unobstructed, particularly for anybody who has tried navigating the city with a buggy or with a wheelchair… it is really important that you have straight, unobstructed lines, that you can walk down on a footpath.”

New digital phone boxes/kiosks from Eir installed in Dublin City. 12/06/22 Image: noel bennett / Alamy Stock Photo

Councillor Horner acknowledged that DCC did grant planning permission for the kiosks, but said councillors now “don't want to see many more of these”.

“It's not to say there isn't a use for a public phone, but the particular iteration that Eir have come up with feels like it is exploiting public space,” she said.

“We've also levelled criticism towards Dublin City Council that these shouldn't have been given planning permission to begin with and that the priority should have been given to [areas] where a public phone would actually be used, instead of an exploitation of the idea of a public phone for advertising.”

The councillor also said she doesn’t think the €2 minimum cost of the digital phone boxes is feasible, warning that most people will not have coins on them in an emergency.

Responsibility

Cllr Horner said she previously questioned whether responsibility for fixing Ireland’s phone boxes should fall to Eir or DCC.

“Effectively, those kiosks all around the city had turned into just dereliction, litter and clutter on the street,” she said.

“We were having to make that argument to Eir that they should actually be the responsible body for removing them, instead of Dublin City Council having to tell them that they are in breach of litter laws.

“Nobody has the right to leave completely derelict, destroyed, dirty property on the street and allow it to stay like that for years on end.”

Listen back here:

Pictured on Mary Street is one of the new Digital Kiosk phone booths which are being installed in Dublin city. 17/06/2021 Photograph: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie