Upcoming Events

Dublin | Environment

no events match your query!

New Events

Dublin

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link US Marines Commandant Wants to Dump All ... Wed Mar 03, 2021 20:57 | Paul McLeary

offsite link Cuomo Wins Al-Qaeda’s ‘Jihadi of the... Wed Mar 03, 2021 15:15 | Rafi Metz

offsite link Facing MBS Questions Washington Suddenly... Wed Mar 03, 2021 14:38 | Dave DeCamp

offsite link Previously Unreleased Footage of Iranian... Wed Mar 03, 2021 13:27 | Colonel Cassad

offsite link Orban Gets a Sinopharm Jab, Slovakia Imp... Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:34 | bne IntelliNews

Anti-Empire >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link Mainstream media: Failing to speak truth to power

offsite link David Quinn’s selective tolerance Anthony

offsite link A Woulfe in judges clothing Anthony

offsite link Sarah McInerney and political impartiality Anthony

offsite link Did RTE journalists collude against Sinn Fein? Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
A Blog About Human Rights

offsite link Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights

offsite link Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights

offsite link Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights

offsite link Turkish President Calls On Greece To Comply With Human Rights on Syrian Refugee Issues Wed Mar 04, 2020 17:58 | Human Rights

offsite link US Holds China To Account For Human Rights Violations Sun Oct 13, 2019 19:12 | Human Rights

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Spirit of Contradiction

offsite link The Party and the Ballot Box Sun Jul 14, 2019 22:24 | Gavin Mendel-Gleason

offsite link On The Decline and Fall of The American Empire and Socialism Sat Jan 26, 2019 01:52 | S. Duncan

offsite link What is Dogmatism and Why Does It Matter? Wed Mar 21, 2018 08:10 | Sylvia Smith

offsite link The Case of Comrade Dallas Mon Mar 19, 2018 19:44 | Sylvia Smith

offsite link Review: Do Religions Evolve? Mon Aug 14, 2017 19:54 | Dara McHugh

Spirit of Contradiction >>

Campaigners ‘liberate’ Dublin’s South William Street from cars for the day

category dublin | environment | news report author Saturday July 20, 2019 23:59author by cyclistReport this post to the editors

“It’s time to fight back against the dominance of motor vehicles in our towns and cities,” groups say.

Environmental and transport campaigners have set a plan in motion to liberate Dublin’s South William Street from cars for the day.

As the above photograph, provide by the group shows, South William Street is currently closed to through motor traffic. IrishCycle.com understands that the group of protesters will not get in the way of local access, including cars exiting from the Brown Thomas Car Park.
liberating_southwilliamstree_dublin_from_cars_july2019.png

Organisers who canvased the businesses on the street said that 19 out of 21 were “positive or super positive” and the remaining two were “indifferent”. Several years ago, a local business-lead campaign to make the street car-free failed after car park owners and larger retailers in the wider area objected to it. Campaigners also claim that there’s only a very small percentage of motorists who have expressed annoyance at them.

Then in 2015, city councillors voted to include a call to pedestrianise the street in the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022. The current city development plan states that it is an objective “To introduce traffic-free areas on sections on Drury Street, South William Street, Exchequer Court, Dame Court and Dame Lane while ensuring that access to car parks and deliveries is still provided for.”

Today, Cllr Neasa Hourigan (Green Party) said: “A viable pedestrian plan has been stalled for almost a decade on this street”, while Fine Gael TD Noel Rock said: “South William Street really is ripe to be pedestrianised. Would love to see this progressed and made official in near future.”

SOLE Seafood & Grill, a business based on the street, said: “We think this is wonderful! There is such an amazing buzz on South William Street today and we for one would love to see it pedestrianised permanently.”

Protest was underway at 10am

The protest action which got underway at 10am is described as being implemented by members of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, the Dublin Commuter Coalition and the Irish Pedestrian Network with support from Extinction Rebellion activists.

A statement released to the media by organisers said: “The action was prompted by the recent release of Environmental Protection Agency data which showed that air pollution in Dublin is regularly exceeding the levels deemed safe by the EU. In Ireland, the number of premature deaths attributed to air pollution annually is estimated by the EPA as 1,510 people. This is ten times the number of people who died in 2018 as a direct result of road traffic collisions.”

The statement from organisers added: “Activists wearing anti-pollution masks installed traffic-prevention measures on South William Street at 10am on Saturday and have said they will continue a series of similar actions on streets around Dublin. These would continue, they promised, until the immediate actions, not words, of Dublin City Council and the government show they get the message that “streets are for people, not cars.”

“Poisonous air harms all of us, but particularly the most vulnerable”

Janet Horner of the Dublin Cycling Campaign said: “We are extremely concerned about the toxic levels of air pollution being created by motor vehicles on a daily basis,”

”Poisonous air harms all of us, but particularly the most vulnerable. This is a public health emergency and we need to take immediate action to reduce motor traffic and to create clean air zones throughout the city. People have a right to clean air,” Horner added.

Cllr Hourigan, who is also a founder of the Irish Pedestrian Network, said: “We are calling on the authorities to create public places for people, not cars. South William Street should have been pedestrianised years ago, and today we intend to show how even our most urban streets should be a place where people with disabilities and young children can access the public realm with ease.”

Kevin Carter, acting chairperson of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, said: “The vast majority of people moving in the city centre are walking, on bikes and on public transport but they get a minority of the space. Air quality and the environmental impact of cars are going to be election issues at the next general election.”

Carter said: “Politicians need to realise that people want cities that are clean, attractive and liveable. This isn’t possible if the streets are dominated by cars, so something has got to give.”

Robin Cafolla of Extinction Rebellion Dublin said: “Transport emissions account for about one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and the rise of the private motor car has been a contributory factor in the acceleration of climate collapse. We have to take radical action to reduce our dependence on cars and enable more people to walk, cycle and use public transport.”

More images at link below

Related Link: https://irishcycle.com/2019/07/20/campaigners-liberate-dublins-south-william-street-from-cars-for-the-day-under-streetsareforpeople-banner/
© 2001-2021 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy