Hopes €100k Dublin city laneway revamp stops it being 'used as a toilet'
A neglected Dublin alleyway looks set to become a tribute to the city’s musical heritage as part of a €100,000 laneway project.
At last week’s South East Area meeting, David Forde from the City Co-ordination Office at Dublin City Council briefed councillors on the latest project within the Love the Lanes initiative. Having previously worked with the Temple Bar Company to reactive laneways that had fallen into disuse, he revealed they are now expanding south to look at the alley from Dame Lane onto Dame Court.
This small alleyway just off Dame Street could host a canvas of ribbon lighting and murals that celebrate Dublin musical legends like Luke Kelly , Ronnie Drew or Enya. While it has yet to officially decide which stars will be honoured, Mr Forde said they have decided on a theme of ‘music and spoken word’ for the project.
Titled ‘Where All Ghosts Meet,’ the laneway rejuvenation takes its name from the well-known Irish song ‘On Raglan Road’ and will include night-time lighting. Mr Forde showed a mock plan of the alley featuring Sinéad O'Connor, but said they will be working with archivists before deciding exactly which musical figures will be featured.
The general concept and design was welcomed by Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn, who described the alley as a tight space that is “constantly” being used as a toilet by the general public. “It can be very odious in terms of the way it's not cleaned regularly,” he said.
Located in a busy area where there is lots of eating and drinking but not many public toilets, Cllr Flynn hoped the interventions could dissuade people from relieving themselves. He described the concept as “grand,” but wondered whether they should consider younger, active musicians for the mural, rather than “those who passed away and had great careers”.
From Damien Dempsey to Radie Peat, he highlighted the wealth of great contemporary Dublin musicians and said rather than delving into the archives they could utilise other sources close to the council. He highlighted Dublin City Council Culture Company and City Arts Officer Ray Yeates as worth consulting with.
Sinn Féin Cllr Kourtney Kenny said the project is a good opportunity to honour Irish women in music and cited not only Sinéad O'Connor but others like Mary Black and CMAT. She said she’s delighted to see installations like this in the city but also questioned the plan for reacting to potential vandalism, stating: “Nothing is worse than a lot of money going into something in the city to uplift it and it gets broken and is just left there.”
Labour Cllr Dermot Lacey welcomed the plan to “liven up the lanes” and hoped “the more people use them, the less likely it will be used as a toilet”. Fine Gael Cllr Patrick Kinsella suggested utilising the creativity of NCAD students and opening a competition to design the mural.
Mr Forde stated that if the project is successful they could expand it out to the many other neglected laneways around the city. He supported the idea of a competition for students for future plans and said it’s something the council can investigate.
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