Minister tells Dublin City Council to provide more bins where people are gathering

A Dublin City Council representative has said that providing extra bin and toilet facilities around Dublin city centre will "drive more footfall and create more of an issue” from a public health perspective.

Dublin City Council’s director of city recovery Coilín O’Reilly made the comments after the weekend of fine weather saw large crowds gathering in the city.

However the Minister for Housing and Local Government has told councils to put more bins in parks and in areas where people are gathering.

Minister Darragh O'Brien has said that the “Government has been very clear that this summer will be an outdoor summer”, and that his department would be meeting with chief executives of local authorities again today to discuss the issues.

Gardaí cleared large numbers of people from South William Street, Stephen's Green and Temple Bar over the weekend, also making four arrests for public order offences.

Other locations around Dublin, such as Portobello Plaza, remained closed off to the public over the weekend due to anti-social behaviour.

Photos and footage of the disarray left behind prompted calls for Dublin City Council to provide more bins and toilet facilities around the city to better support people meeting out of doors, as bars and restaurants remain closed for indoor dining.

Sunday morning on Dublin’s South William Street… no words 😔 pic.twitter.com/HvTklScgjx

— Karl Purdy (@KarlPurdy) May 30, 2021

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan also strongly condemned the masses of people gathering on South William Street in particular, on Saturday night.

Drove into Dublin City Centre to collect someone from work at 815 PM. Absolutely shocked at scenes in South Great George’s St, Exchequer St, South William St area. Enormous crowds- like a major open air party. This is what we do not need when we have made so much progress.

— Dr Tony Holohan (@CMOIreland) May 29, 2021

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu however, tweeted that the city needs more public spaces, more bins, and more Garda presence.

Increase more public spaces, increase more bins, increase more garda presence. And if you think I haven't asked for this many many times you're sadly mistaken.

Oh and stop blaming young people. Sure I had a 50 year old piss outside the house the other night.

— Hazel Chu (@hazechu) May 30, 2021

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, O'Reilly raised concerns that increasing bin and toilet facilities would create a 'public health issue'.

“If we supply more toilets and bins, does that bring more people in? Do we end up with bigger public health issues? It’s a very difficult situation to manage,” he said.

O'Reilly also said the council were 'very keen' to facilitate an outdoor summer, but added that “the problem is, what is the definition of an outdoor summer?"

Dublin City Council also released a statement on Sunday.

Statement from @DubCityCouncil ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/75FNSAcrbl

— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) May 30, 2021

Covid regulations are still in place around Ireland, however some are to be relaxed in the coming week.

June 2nd will see the reopening of hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and self-catering accommodation, while outdoor dining and drinking in pubs and restaurants will be allowed from June 7th.