4,000 people have already signed a petition to prevent the closure of one of Dublin's most beloved beer gardens in O'Connell Street.
The well-known courtyard, which is shared by Fibber Magee's, The Living Room and Murray's, will be shut down to facilitate Dublin City Council’s plans for an extension to the Holiday Inn Express.
Sean Donohoe launched the petition on Change.Org yesterday in order to prevent the development from going ahead.
Read More: Popular Dublin beer garden to close due to hotel development
“It's gathered over 4,000 signatures in less than 24 hours which feels fairly positive to me. It’s interesting because the signatures are coming from people of all ages and different walks of life which kind of embodies what the space itself represents,” Sean told the Irish Mirror.
Twitter users have hit out at the proposed hotel development, claiming that the move was another “nail in the coffin” to Dublin’s cultural nightlife
Neasa Hourigan, a Green Party TD for Dublin Central, expressed solidarity with the campaign and said she would be appealing the decision made by Dublin City Council.
Comments underneath the petition have expressed similar dismay at the plans, with one user describing the demolition of the spot in order to build a hotel as a “travesty.”
Sean agrees with this view, arguing that the construction of hotels across the city is taking away from Dublin’s cultural identity.
“The beer garden has always had such a unique cultural mix, acting as an intersection between three very different venues. There is always such a great atmosphere there, and considering how nightlife and cultural spaces in Dublin are already on a rapid decline, spaces like this have never been so vital,” he says.
The courtyard provides outdoor seating for the three pubs and is one of the few beer gardens in operation within the inner city.
One of the pubs, Fibber Magees, a well-known venue for live music on weekends, has shared the petition on their Facebook page and received support from followers.
The developer had originally sought approval for a seven-storey extension at the site, but that application was refused following concerns among council officials around loss of daylight for surrounding buildings. Instead, the Council have now approved plans for a slightly lower six-storey extension, which is designed to provide an additional 95 guest rooms.
The proposed changes involving some internal alterations will result in the total number of guest rooms increasing from 214 to 303, an increase of 89 rooms. Speaking to Dublin Live this week, Labour Cllr Darragh Moriarty said that the closure of the beer garden is "incredibly disappointing."
He said: "This is one of the only beer garden spaces in the inner city and there are three distinct pubs in the area Fibber Magee's, The Living Room, and Murray's. It's just incredibly disappointing to see more hotels being catered for, I think people are sick of hotels.
"So many venues in the last five years have been closed because of new hotels, it's just hotel after hotel." While the work is set to go ahead, those opposed to the move can make an objection to An Bord Pleanala.
You can view the petition to save the beer garden on Change.org here.
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