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Crowe Street, Temple Bar this afternoon.

Where are they taking them?

Tony Duncan asks:

“Dublin City Council. Are you seriously trying to put SME’S out of business, why are you taking their sandwich boards?”

DCC responds:

“They were unlicensed boards, businesses would have been given notice to remove them from the public footpath….”

More as we get it.

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66 thoughts on “Stop That

    1. selfie Sensation

      Don’t see what’s so ridiculous about it, you need a licence to put a board on the foot path, It is entirely reasonable that it is so.

      1. Atlas

        Owning a trendy, hipster coffee shop or other such ‘small business’ in Temple Bar and being a Broadsheet.ie reader means you’re above the law, didn’t you know?

  1. Zynks

    Ah, Dublin is enjoying the ‘extreme by-the-book’ style of Mr. Keegan. Check Dun Laoghaire behind the seafront to get an idea of the future waiting for you.

        1. Rep

          Did they move away purely because of him and his actions or did the economic crash have anything to do with it?

          1. Mister Mister

            Ericson for starters still have a presence in Ireland, and announced a pile of new jobs, over 100, a few months ago, ironically some development roles considering point 2 below.

            Secondly, they offshored much of their development work to Poland, were the labour is much cheaper. Probably every big IT company has done the same.

            I don’t think Owen Keegan had much to do with their decisions.

          2. selfie Sensation

            Not sure that 3M were too worried about on street parking giving that only their offices were in Dun Laoghaire. Also a lot of their products came off patent at that time and the construction industry (which was the lions share of their business) collapsed at that time.

            But yeah it was probably Keegan’s fault.

          3. Zynks

            I never said they moved out of the country. Ericsson moved their staff based in DL to Beech Hill, and costs were a key reason to the best of my knowledge.

          4. Mister Mister

            “I can name companies that moved away with over 3,000 jobs after his appointment.”

            So what do you mean then ?

          5. Zynks

            That strictness of implementation of county council policies did, partly, influence those jobs going from Dun Laoghaire to other more business friendly areas. I know this because I got to see the report used to base some of those decisions.

  2. Bacchus

    DCC are one of the biggest problems for bushinesses in Dublin. From moronic planning to unaffordable rates to this sort of petty “regulation” their only goal seems to be to make doing business in Dublin difficult.

        1. John E. Bravo

          They could be on the verge of greatness though – huge growth in hedge funds. I recommend more branches.

  3. scottser

    ah now, dodging those boards all over the paths can be a right pain in the swiss. that and dicks who leave their bikes locked to lamp posts deserve a good wedgie.

  4. Mikey

    Am delighted Dublin City Council have finally taken some action to remove such unnecessary clutter from our streets, clutter which also presents a serious danger to the visually impaired. I further believe that such clutter should not be licensable!

      1. fosull

        Got to say, I’m with Mikey on this.

        Picture if you can what it must be like for a visually-impaired person trying to walk down a footpath covered with these signs?

        It must be a nightmare.

  5. Blonto

    At least they’re not ignoring the crappy footpaths themselves. And the banjoed road surfaces. And the poor street lighting. And the drains that will be blocked next month.
    You’d almost feel proud to be a Dub. SPANNERS.

    1. Dhaughton99

      Dug up the roads outside Guinness throughout the whole summer where there’s a huge amount of tourism foot traffic. Senseless.

      1. Clampers Outside!

        Senseless me eye, about time they sorted the road and paths.
        As a resident of James Street, its the first decent bit of work done in the area since I moved in back in 1997. And a helluva lot more to do with Thomas St… woohoo!

  6. the good helen

    I personally am happy to see DCC doing this. Really at the end of the day as they say, they were given notice, asked not to do it, or to licence it, and they didnt, so they took them away. its that simple, they broke the rules. I personally hate the fact you can get past some places due to their over sized sambo boards on the footpath, and well if they are not paying for the privilage to do it, then take them away. We’d complain if DCC werent doing their job, and yet here they are – and people still complain… you can please some people sometimes… yet…..

    1. Charlie

      Ignoring the appalling grammar , these shops pay through the nose in Rates to DCC. A small shop of 250 ft2 can pay from 5500 a year and get nothing from DCC.

      1. scottser

        well, how do pubs, restaurants etc get to put tables out on the paths and use them as commercial enterprise? public pathways are for public access, not for advertising. you wants to use it for commerce, then you gots to pay.

  7. Reegore

    What exactly is the difference subsequent to obtaining one of these licences? Is there some sort of test akin to a drivers license or safepass where the shopkeeper is trained in the art of not whacking elderly grannies over the head with the sign, or concealing crude booby traps (possibly holes filled with spikes) in the pavement?

    I would hazard a guess that things remain the exact same as prior to having the license, bar of course the vital process of exchanging of money.

  8. octo

    Fair play to DCC. First Garth Brooks, now this. I hate those sandwich boards, taking over public space.

    Now, how about buskers with amplifiers?

  9. First Aid Kit

    Seems excessive by the CC but I don’t think it’ll harm SMEs too much.

    Maybe the licence makes sign ownership and disply too expensive so the sign owners craftily left them outside so that the CC would bin them free of charge.

  10. YourNan

    great. plenty of streets nearly impassable because of this trash, especially annoying for people with disabilities, but don’t le that hold you back from your Keegan bashing though, the man is a legend. Pedestrianise the whole city centre.

  11. Joe835

    I work in town and this is the first time I’ve ever stopped to think if boards like this have ever gotten in the way when walking around. The fact I have to even think about it means probably not. This is ridiculous.

      1. Zynks

        I always thought that the purpose of the sticks used by blind people was to be an alternative detection method and it should work with boards as much as it works with lamp-posts, people, pot holes, etc.

    1. ReproBertie

      DCC take note. Joe835 has spoken. The problems faced by wheelchair users, people with prams and the blind when negotiating narrow footpaths are irrelevant so quit pandering to these lesser citizens with your ridiculous bye laws and enforcement of same.

      1. will-billy

        bullshit

        blind folks are too busy trying to navigate know it alls to be worrying about a fexkin sandwich board

    2. Pidge

      Wheelchairs, prams, visually impaired people. These make life more hassle for them. On some streets, they’re a great idea, and on others, they’re not. There are also spaces which have too much street furniture and urban clutter. If you want a prettier, more accessible and walkable city, this is one the means of getting it.

      Since people were using the signs in inappropriate spaces, there now has to be a licensing system. These people either didn’t bother getting a license, or were rejected. They continued, despite notification, to leave the boards illegally in place. What should the Council do? Keep sending letters?

  12. postmanpat

    What’s the problem? , Its standard practice for businesses . leave the sign out ,ignore the request to remove it and its taken away. Wait a few week repeat. Every shop owner knows the trick. the signs are cheep. All in the game ,yo!

  13. geebag

    They are also ugly so affect those of us who are not visually impaired. If nobody on the street has a sandwich board the business is not disadvantaged much.

  14. geebag

    Next they should target the people standing in one spot all day holding signs. Do they have licenses to carry out commercial activity in public? Get rid of them.

  15. TopHat

    My 3 year old daughter walked into one of these illegal signs in Kilkenny and almost lost an eye. I had to threaten legal action against owner later to have it removed.

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