Underused Coolock plaza could host Saturday markets and community fairs
A proposed greening initiative could encourage community markets and fairs in Coolock.
Independent Councillor John Lyon has called on Dublin City Council to help activate the plaza at the front of the Northside Civic Centre for community use by the people of Coolock. Located on Bunratty Road, he said consultation has shown residents wish to make use of the space.
While the Northside Civic Centre is owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW), it is mainly populated by statutory bodies like Dublin City Council and the Department of Social Protection. Cllr Lyons said that as a prominent municipal building they should explore the area’s potential for greening and even a Saturday market .
“The Bunratty Road area does suffer from a lack of opportunities for neighbours to get together,” he said. Cllr Lyons called on the council to engage with the OPW and find a way to “liven up” the area for the benefit of residents.
Social Democrats Cllr Jesslyn Henry supported the motion and said that prior to the pandemic the Civic Centre “actually felt like part of the community”. A café allowed people to come together and meet for coffee, but she described the plaza directly outside as “a site of anti-social behaviour”.
She said the green project would bring the space back into appropriate use and deter anti-social behaviour in the process. “It would make it feel like part of the community again, rather than an ‘us and them’ situation, which is how it feels now,” she said.
Green Party Cllr Donna Cooney agreed that the initiative would be of great benefit to the community, but said engaging with the OPW has proved difficult in the past. She said she has been “waiting well over a year” for a response from them on a separate issue, and said they may have to write to Minister Jack Chambers directly and ask them to engage.
The manager’s response was that the Northside Civic Centre is owned by the OPW and that they would need to meet with them before any projects could move forward. “It’s quite difficult for us to get meetings with them, but we can look to meet them,” they said.
They explained that events at the site, such as markets and fairs, would also fall under the responsibility of the OPW to run. It was agreed the council would write to the OPW to request a meeting, and if there is no response within two weeks they will engage directly with the Minister.
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