Buskers have raised concerns about the impact of proposed Grafton Street apartments on their livelihoods.

Dublin City Council has granted permission to a developer to build four apartments on the second, third and fourth floors at address numbers four and five on Grafton Street.

Some musicians are worried that the constant sounds of music on the street could lead to complaints by potential new residents.

They have claimed their livelihoods - and the street’s unique busking culture - are at stake if this plan is approved.

Bandmember with Keywest Andy Kavanagh told Lunchtime Live that the fallout of this move could be detrimental to the tourism sector.

“The Wall Street Journal just covered an article there a while ago talking about cities all over the US that are now paying buskers to come back and play in cities,” he said.

“This is a very viable tool for rejuvenating spaces - it’s high impact, low cost [and] it’s responsible for billions of views, when we spend millions every year trying to advertise Ireland.”

Mr Kavanagh rejected the idea that buskers are ‘getting ahead of themselves’ by reacting to this issue before the apartments have even been built.

“We’ve seen it in other cities, we’ve seen it in Temple Bar – so there’s no point in trying to pretend it’s not going to go the same way,” he said.

Allie Sherlock busking on Grafton Street, Dublin, Ireland. Image: noel bennett / Alamy. 12 June 2022

According to Mr Kavanagh, busking on Grafton Street is a unique core element of the Irish music scene.

“It’s world famous – almost every famous Irish artist has played on the street at some point,” he said.

“It’s an incredible thing, our musicians come out and they learn their craft on the street, they learn from each other - we have a wonderful culture of it.

“It’s always in danger, it’s an endangered thing across the world.

"[This development] is not what the general public want.

“We’re talking about wealthy developers and a couple of apartments, and it is not in the interest of the city or the people of Ireland or the culture of music that goes so far back.”

Mr Kavanagh said that a complaint had been made against the proposal, but that buskers had only found out about the plan "quite late".

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Featured image: Young girls busking on Grafton street. Image: calix / Alamy. July 13,2004.