Residents in Malahide are bitterly split over the pedestrianisation of one the main streets in the north County Dublin town.
New Street is now halfway through its ten-week spell as a car-free zone and, while many are delighted with the change, others can’t wait for things to get back to normal.
Newstalk reporter Henry McKean made his way to Dublin Bay this afternoon to get to the bottom of Malahide’s pedestrianisation war.
“I think they are trying to turn Malahide into Templebar.” Malahide goes to war over pedestrianisation. @NewstalkFM @IvanYatesNT this hour. pic.twitter.com/yEx3dcxACH
— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) July 22, 2020
He began by chatting to Majella Dunne, who lives on the street and is concerned authorities have a “hidden agenda” to ban cars from the area permanently.
“I am worried it is going to turn into a Temple Bar-type area,” she said. “They’re not telling us what their long-term plans are for the whole street or for the village of Malahide. I just feel that we are being given the run-around and they are just hiding behind COVID measures.”
She said the street gets very busy on the weekend – and she is worried what might happen if the rest of the country’s pubs are allowed to open.
“The temporary furniture is spread all across the street so you are weaving in and out of tables if you want to walk up,” she said.
"Even the restaurant up here had a table in the middle of the footpath the other day so I had to get off the path and weave around.
“I am worried about anti-social behaviour; I am worried about what is going to happen with the pubs here when we get to the fourth phase of reopening – that is my worry.”
New Street, Malahide looking fantastic in the sun today! Why would anybody be against this♂️♂️ pic.twitter.com/3XRHhSSAnb
— Paul Williams (@Paul_Williams__) July 19, 2020
In a statement, Fingal County Council said the trial was introduced after consultation with all the key stakeholder groups in the town. It said local councillors in the area also gave it the green light.
Councillor Eoghan O'Brien was one of those.
“I am fully in favour of this trial pedestrianisation,” he said. “It has brought a lot of public space into use for a lot of people that otherwise would not be spending time in Malahide Village.
“I understand there is a divergence of opinion there and I said from the outset that I hope people give it a chance to work. If it works, it is a good thing for everybody.”
Have been hugely enjoying having one tiny street with no SUVs and space to walk/sit outside in Malahide, bitterly disappointed to see these signs in more than half the businesses in the village @AoibhinnTormey @brianmcdonagh @hopkins_joan @davidhealyv #streetsareforpeople pic.twitter.com/1NiYSPrTKX
— Clare O'Connell (@oconnellclare) July 18, 2020
After speaking to business-owners and residents all around the area, Henry found the town to be split somewhere close to 50/50.
This man said he is “very positive about the whole thing.”
“I think it is a great initiative,” he said. “It is only a trial so let’s give it a go.
“I mean look at it today. There are tonnes of people around enjoying themselves and it is a great atmosphere.
“It is great for the shops too because everyone here is a potential customer. If you can’t entice people into your shop with all of these people around there is a serious problem.
“We don’t want the cars back. Surely we don’t want to go back to the days where there are two lanes of traffic and two lanes of parking. We’ll just have to see what happens.”
On the other hand, this woman said she finds the whole thing “just really aggravating.”
“A lot of my friends are already saying, ‘oh will we go down to New Street, come on, we’ll go down and have a couple of drinks sit on the street.’
“I live and cocoon with a 90-year-old so it is really concerning when I hear people my age saying they want to congregate on the street. You see the bikes flying up and down too so I do think it is an accident waiting to happen.”
