Fears The Liberties could ‘lose its identity’ if protections aren’t put in place
Steps must be put into place to stop local residents of The Liberties “losing their sense of community” within the neighbourhood, a local Councillor has said.
Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair has prepared a motion for Dublin City Council to request the historical area be granted UNESCO special designation to act as a safeguard against future large-scale developments. With hotels, student accommodation, and short-term rentals already over concentrated in the area, Cllr Ó Meachair claims The Liberties is in danger “of losing the very characteristics that make it unique.”
“The Liberties is an iconic neighbourhood in Dublin that represents old traditional Dublin in a lot of ways,” said Cllr Ó Meachair. “You still have the markets on Meath Street, but the idea of this motion is we’re losing a lot of that identity.”
UNESCO cultural sites aim to ensure better protections of significant places around the world, and Councillor Ó Meachair believes applying this status to The Liberties would mean the Council needs to consider the cultural implication of any future large-scale developments in the area. “Only last week the council actually approved the 13th student accommodation development in the area in as many years,” he said.
“It’s becoming a noticeable problem in the area. The local community feels very priced out. With so many developments people start to feel a sense of resignation. There’s a massive proliferation of Airbnbs in The Liberties that drains the housing stock.
“You have young guys and girls growing up here and resigned to the fact that they will never be able to live here permanently. Once they're out of their parents’ places they have to move somewhere else.”
Cllr Ó Meachair states that the negative impact of hotel developments on the area extends beyond just a lack of housing - and cited recent damage caused by hotel developers to the Meath Street Grotto. “The developers have actually damaged part of the grotto wall. This is extremely concerning for the local community,” Cllr Ó Meachair explained.
“For a lot of residents it’s kind of an insult to injury in the sense that this massive hotel was already being imposed on the community, yet the construction workers themselves damaged something that’s sacred to a lot of people. For the older generation it’s a place of peace, reflection, and prayer.”
Along with Cllr Ó Meachair’s request to turn The Liberties into an area of special significance, he’s also asked for the grotto to be added to the Dublin City Register of Protective Structures, and has contacted Planning Enforcement to investigate the level of damage caused to the wall. While UNESCO status could act as a deterrent for future developments in The Liberties, this does not always ensure long-term protection.
Liverpool had its World Heritage status stripped in 2021 for allowing developments to threaten the city's waterfront. “It goes to show you have to satisfy UNESCO’s requirements themselves and there’s a concern that the status did not actually protect Liverpool, “ Cllr Ó Meachair added.
However, Councillor Ó Meachair is hopeful his request will “draw focus onto the situation” and act as a tool in terms of “trying to halt any future large-scale works that are probably overkill at this point.”
This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.