Crying For Chairs

at

Castle Market, Dublin 2,

Ah here.

Yesterday:

Andrea Horan tweetz:

Instead of trying to stop people meeting friends and sitting down in the city, maybe we could supply chairs instead (like nearly every other city

You can wet our steps, but you’ll never take our freedom (to gather with pals) I mean we’re CRYING out for some on street seating/cafe culture/bag o’ cans seats…

Fight!

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37 thoughts on “Crying For Chairs

  1. Dr.Fart

    “put some chairs out there” really shows how people don’t see covid as a problem anymore. it’s chairless because the street is closed, people aren’t supposed to congregate. social distancing has been entirely abandoned by everyone in Dublin city. No one could deny that. just pop outside for a few minutes and you’ll see.

    I’m really beginning to understand why for centuries the irish were the english’s kerry man in jokes.

    1. Col

      Because the English are behaving in a very orderly fashion and tackling the pandemic better than us?

      1. Dr.Fart

        Col. is that the standard you live by? Once you’re not the worst then it’s ok? Would you lean down to a dying Covid patients ICU bed and comfort them “you know, it’s a lot worse in England”

          1. Dr.Fart

            well in regards to handling covid, their government did extremely bad, but when they put measures in place the public adhered to them. here we just did it for a little bit and then tossed it all out the window while sneering at the UK,

    2. Junkface

      It’s safe to sit outside with 1.5 metres distance. Teens actually do not spread covid 19 as bas as 20 to 35 years olds according to new studies. The fresh air dissipates the particles. They should provide plastic tables and chairs, but also they would need to be locked to something or guarded as its Dublin.

      1. Dr.Fart

        they’re not socially distant. No groups outside are. I mean literally none. Go walk around the city for a few minutes and you’ll see no one is socially distancing anymore. Good example is the canal. Go look at that and tell me how safe it is. As for the science of spreading it, these people all in the 20s are certainly spreading it. You’re just saying stuff to comfort your own lack of safe practice.

        1. f_lawless

          This has been going on for for several weeks now and yet there’s been no uptick in the number of cases or fatalities as you would expect to see if the measures were really keeping the virus in check. On the contrary the numbers have continued to fall

          1. Dr.Fart

            i know, im so surprised by it. the spikes you’d expect from the BLM protest should have kicked in by now. I wonder if numbers are being surpressed so as to not scare the public. they are eager to get the economy going.

          2. Johnny

            “Looking at nationwide statistics, a new study that has not been peer-reviewed from the National Bureau of Economic Research used anonymous cell phone tracking data and data from the Centers for Disease Control on new coronavirus cases in 315 cities to determine if protests had an effect on the infection rate. No association was found.

            “We find no evidence that urban protests reignited COVID-19 case growth during the more than two and a half weeks following protest onset,” the researchers wrote. “We conclude that predictions of broad negative public health consequences of Black Lives Matter protests were far too narrowly conceived.”

            https://people.com/health/black-lives-matter-protests-no-spike-in-coronavirus-cases/

            …in other news some elderly men in their late 80’s and 90’s sadly succumbed to covid and multiple underlying health issues and passed away…..

            ..LOCK DOWN OMG WE ARE ALL GOING DIE DIE VIRUS VIRUS

          3. Dr.Fart

            Johnny. its really weird that protests haven’t spiked cases. Masks seem to do a lot more to stop the spread than anything. another area of safety we rarely use here. maybe the virus is dying off itself. in europe. in the USA where it’s been allowed run rampant, it’s gotten stronger.

            dont do that “ugh lockdown is useless, we should never have done it” rubbish, it clearly saves lives. ill take a dip in economy over a year or two if it meant theres people living who wouldnt have otherwise. to propose anything else is devoid of humanity.

          4. Johnny

            You know I bow down peacefully to medical science but from my perspective as a non scientist/expert it appears at times that nurse has taken over,2,000 dead with a 30 Billion defecit,sorry Doc but its time switch on the old economic engine and get motoring.

            By all means trace/test/track quarantine-targeted lock downs-keep anyone over 50 indoors for a few years, no sporting events, but I and many others gotta go work or there will be no economy.

    3. class wario

      as plans to ‘re-open’ ramp up, though, congregation of people in some form is inevitable. so I think there’s a logic to looking to let places expand outdoors while the weather allows so patrons are more spaced out and in (less covid-spreading-conducive) outdoor spaces to boot.

      1. Dr.Fart

        that makes more sense. if the council put the seating out, they could make the seating in a way that keeps groups small and distant from each other.

    4. Help

      Ah sure the ways it’s going
      No face masks no
      Distancing etc we will get another spike

      I travelled to Dublin by train
      No sanitizer at train station none on the train no face masks by staff very few passengers wearing them and even worse the ventilation
      System circulating the air into your lungs

  2. Rob_G

    From what I understand from a friend who works in this area, DCC is loathe to put seating in the city centre as it tends to become a place for drug addicts to congregate.

  3. Tarfton Clax

    It is a interesting conundrum. I had (Elderly) Spanish relatives over last year in Dublin and they commented on the noticeable lack of public seating compared to Spain or other European cities. Seating is monitised in Dublin in that you need to go to a cafe or bar to sit down thus paying for it.

    It seems unfair, especially to the elderly or certainly those of us who are no longer flexible enough to sit on the ground without having a lot of creaks and groans getting back up again.

    Public seating tends to create a better environment in other cities, and makes a city more human scaled where people are not all in cars or whizzing by on bikes. Patrick Kavanagh had it right in wanting to be commemorated by no “hero Courageous tomb”, rather a canal bank bench.
    However, almost every public bench or seat here becomes colonised by people taking drugs or drinking which doesn’t seem to happen to the same extent in other cities I have visited.

    It could be worthwhile performing an experiment of putting down hundreds of benches around our cities to see if the general public would use them more, so that the ones used by “head the balls” would be outnumbered by less threatening types..

    This is presupposing a post Covid World.

    1. Rob_G

      It’s kind of a chicken and egg situation – given there are so little public seating, any that is there is more likely to be occupied by people who spend a lot of time sitting around outside in the city centre.

      I think one way of addressing the issue would be look at not having so many methadone centres and homeless hostels concentrated in such a small area along the quays.

      1. Johnny

        You appear and come across as weirdly obsessed with drugs and addicts,do they scare you Rob,your conflating addiction with treatment,it’s methadone clinics – centers is where the OAP’s meet for support and help to overcome irrational fears…

        1. millie von strumpet

          There are, it must be said, a large number of drug addicts in our city centre. It is a huge pity that more has not been done to tackle this problem at source, i.e. proper investment into youth services, into education around drugs and addiction, and into mental health services, etc.

          1. Johnny

            If your afraid squirrels every park has a ‘large’ number them-its just lazy and such a old trope, blaming addicts who are sick and suffering for DCC’s failure to provide street furniture.

          2. millie von strumpet

            It’s a statement of fact. There are a lot of drug addicts in Dublin City Centre. It’s not victim blaming to say that a lack of adequate resources and funding could have prevented these kinds of social issues – because they could have.

            When was the last time you were in Dublin city, Johnny? I was in there yesterday, and yes, there are a lot of them. I’m not censuring them, I have a huge amount of pity for anyone who finds themselves in the grip of an addiction.

            The seating issue is beside the point, imo, and is just a cop out on the part of DCC.

          3. Johnny

            ..its not a statement of fact its just not-a ‘lot’ is hardly a fact its your opinion.

            I try get back at least once every month as grandad is getting on a bit……but with the restrictions in travel, but hopefully July.

          4. millie von strumpet

            I feel that you’re wilfully misunderstanding me, and your comment below in response to scottser seems to confirm this. Me stating my opinion as fact would be me saying that all drug addicts are heroin ridden flea bags (which I don’t believe at all, just in case that isn’t clear). Perhaps scottser has phrased it better than me?

            Hopefully you’ll get back to Ireland sooner rather than later and that your grandad is keeping safe and well. Haven’t seen my own grandad in months and I miss him terribly.

        2. scottser

          johnny, i worked in homeless and drug services for 12 years. whatever you think of rob’s motivations it’s true – there is too much of a concentration of services in the city, and not enough in the regions to the extent that if you want methadone and you live in athy, then you can expect to travel every day to dublin to get your dose. it’s madness for both patients and those who live and work in the city.
          their should be a system of satellite clinics and homeless provision in each area for those living locally. it’s a no-brainer really.

          1. Johnny

            Scottser I totally agree,in NY they lifted the day restrictions on medicine limits so that the patents didn’t have come daily.
            But what this has do with DCC not proving street furniture…..

          2. class wario

            both this and the suggestion that rob’s initial attempt at reasoning away a complete failure by local authorities in this space was ridiculous can be true!

          3. scottser

            johnny, DCC is doing what every other ‘western’ local authority has done for the past 30 years; gentrifying their streetscapes. that means non-political art installations, surfaces you can’t sit or lie upon, bins you can’t put anything more than a cup into, no doorways or shelters for rough sleeping etc. They’re working to a well-established blueprint.

  4. Vanessanelle

    is that the queue for the Salon there

    To get an appointment

    Jane mac

    BTW, City Council could easily park some street benches / planting down the middle of that stretch
    and have ye noticed?

    There’s no litter bins either

    1. Dhaughton99

      That public toilet block they put outside St Stephens gn is a roaring success. There’s queues for the ladies every time I have passed it.

    2. Otis Blue

      It’s a standard Local Authority response. When there’s an issue like this their response is generally just to give up and withdraw the service.

      All the while screwing businesses for extortionate rates, ostensibly for non-existent services.

    3. Cian

      AFAIK the premises either side of that street tend to have outdoor seating on either side of the street – leaving the middle as a walk-way. Probably not room for a walkway and public seating down the middle.

      True there are no bins on that street, but there are bins at each junction (Dury St and Williams St) – you’re never more than 30m from a bin on that street.

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