*swerve*
Yesterday.
Dublin city centre.
Business owners are preparing for new regulations on display of sandwich boards outside shops, cafés and restaurants.
Dublin City Council will licence the boards from this Sunday, levying an annual charge of €630.
Some business owners say the final cost to them could well be far higher, due to related application costs.
Punning doesn’t come cheap either.
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They should tax the people walking on the pavement too. It’s not free. Extra for buggies. Especially those carrying fat babies or 3+ year olds who should be walking. Tax Tax Tax
how about ticketing cyclists, skateboarders and those electric scooter things too
On the spot fines for cyclists already exist and the gardaí regularly seize electric scooters as the government has been so slow to regulate them.
In principle, regulating sandwich boards isn’t a bad idea: I’m thinking of size, making sure they’re not overly offensive and that sort of thing.
But 630 euros? That’s gouging, plain and simple.
It isn’t gouging. The purpose of the sign is to increase profits. If the increase in profits is not many multiples of €630 ( which €1.73 per day) then the sign is not effective and so it would be better if it was removed from the footpath entirely. Thankfully a full ban is being introduced on certain streets.
Any increased profits resulting from the signs will be taxable in the usual way, so charging an additional 630 euros is, potentially, double taxing.
However, I absolutely agree with those who say that signs that block footpaths or result in problems for wheelchair users and so on should be completely outlawed and a regulated scheme is fine for that purpose.
No, it is not double taxation. That is just rubbish.
Probably cooked up in the first place,…. but the “Some business owners say the final cost to them could well be far higher, due to related application costs.” doesn’t make sense . If its € 630 then its €630. An owner can fill the forms out himself. He hardy has to pay a staff member time and a half multiplied by as many hours (minutes) it take to fill out paperwork. What the hell does “due to related application costs” mean? Its €630..so you…pay €630. plus the cost of one envelope and stamp . so it could BALLOON to €630.90 !!! Again, Sam Boal/RollingNews probably made that pseudo quote up to pad out the article anyway.
Just ban them outright. Also, sue the backside off Dublin City Council if you’re in a wheel chair and one of these “licensed” boards is blocking the sidewalk.
+1
I pity anyone who is visually impaired trying to navigate around those things.
there’s way too much signage and advertising in general, humans just adapt to surroundings that are more and more distracting instead of standing against it. When you see photos of the streets from many decades ago and long before my time, it was so much more beautiful, a lot less distractions or brands fighting for your attention…
And yes, I’m aware I sound like an oul lad now
Should only be allowed related to the pavement size, and they should be within 1m of the property.
Or just ban them altogether.
Exactly. On a narrow footpath, they shouldn’t be allowed at all. It’s hard enough getting down some of the foothpaths on the side streets without some sandwich board taking up 3/4 of the width of the space.
We have one outside our office, although there the footpath is very wide, and I still think it’s ridiculous cos the name of the place is in large letters above the door and in the frosted glass of the window.
Ban them altogether- apart from the fat fried tourist- what purpose do they actually serve?
50-odd quid a month for advertising isn’t exactly steep
Projected images, like when they light up monuments / buildings might work?
or, you know, just regular shop fronts.
A certain drag queen had issues because her neon legs could be seen from across the Liffey- INSIDE the venue?
Some people have way too much time on their hands- especially in DCC.