Dublin publicans say “next to no practical progress has been made in 155 days since publication”
Priority must also be given to removing the Dublin Airport Cap
The recommendations of the Dublin Taskforce must be implemented without further delay, according to the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA). The representatives for Dublin publicans pointed to the lack of “practical progress” made since the report was published 155 days ago.
The LVA says that Dublin publicans are especially concerned about when the promised additional 1,000 Gardaí will be provided for Dublin and their presence felt on the streets. Pubs across the city have previously noted their worries about the level of policing in Dublin with 96% expressing their concern in a poll conducted by the LVA last year.
Other actions arising from the Report of the Dublin Taskforce that are being closely monitored by the Dublin hospitality sector include the commitments to “Operate the City Centre Transport Plan with agility” and “Implement a dedicated waste management plan for the city centre”.
Speaking about these matters, CEO of the LVA, Donall O’Keeffe said, “We are calling on the Government to implement the measures outlined in the Report of the Dublin Taskforce. As far as we can see there has been next to no practical progress in the 155 days since that report was published. While the Gardai do excellent work, we are no closer to having sufficient Gardaí available to police the streets, no progress has been made on making it easier for people socialising to get transport home and there is no indication that the waste problems across Dublin are improving.
“If you take an even broader view of the situation, we are now almost 500 days since the day before the riots took place in the city centre. What practical changes taken place since? I think if anyone looked at Dublin the day before the riots and Dublin today, they wouldn’t see any difference.
“The Government assured everyone that they would take action once the taskforce report was published. So what’s the delay since? Currently they seem to be acting like the publishing of the report was a solution in itself. There are clear, practical steps outlined by the report that need to be addressed. What is needed now is urgent action from the Government on making these a reality,” Mr. O’Keeffe said.
These issues will be discussed at the LVA AGM which is taking place tomorrow, Wednesday 26th March 2025.
Another topic that will also be raised at the AGM are the concerns amongst publicans about the Dublin Airport cap. This follows poor January tourist numbers as well as recent comments from Dublin Airport Authority that the airport received 20,000 fewer visitors for St. Patrick’s Day this year and their suggestion that it could be as late as 2030 before Dublin Airport gets planning permission to grow passenger numbers to 40 million per annum.
“The negative impact of the Dublin airport cap on Dublin tourism and the licenced trade is obvious,” Mr. O’Keeffe added. “I don’t think people realise the kind of signal this is sending to tourists, to airlines and to the businesses operating in the tourism and hospitality sector. Again, there is huge uncertainty, primarily driven by a refusal of Government to deal with this problem. We firmly believe the Government needs to act on this issue and remove this ridiculous limitation on air access to our capital city,” he concluded.