Petition to remove Street 66 bike racks hits 4,000 signatures

A petition asking Dublin City Council to remove their newly installed bike racks in the outdoor seating area of Street 66 has reached 4,000 signatures overnight.

The manager of Street 66 on Parliament Street started the petition only yesterday, asking the council to return and remove the unnecessary racks from the front of the bar. Siobhán Conmy claims the bike racks were installed with no warning and no chance to appeal, despite bike racks covering the rest of Parliament Street.

Street 66 management had previously been refused planning for an outdoor furniture license with "no reason", despite implementing a successful al fresco seating area during the push for an outdoor summer in Dublin.

pic.twitter.com/ryu2PspvMK

— Street 66 Dublin (@st66dublin) June 12, 2023

Siobhán and others have taken to social media to point out that the installation occurred less than two weeks before Dublin Pride, setting a hugely negative tone.

After a video was posted on Street 66′s Twitter account showing the new feature and complaining that the street already had plenty of bike parking spaces, but very little room for deliveries, the petition was started.

Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon tweeted in support of the bar and calling the decision by DCC “frustratingly antagonistic": "Roll on a time when the executive of DCC can be held accountable," he added.

Since then, the management have noted that the bike racks are also potentially a hazard for members of the public walking.

"I am after witnessing a person tripping while trying to pass," Street 66 tweeted today. "Is this legal putting this on cobble stones drilling into ground? We have no way of taking in deliveries without obstructing people walking by. Please help us @DCC. We are beyond upset."

I am after witnessing a person tripping while trying to pass .

Is this legal putting this on cobble stones drilling into ground ?
We have no way of taking in deliveries without obstructing people walking by . Please help us @DubCityCouncil we are beyond upset . pic.twitter.com/441cpL3HrX

— Street 66 Dublin (@st66dublin) June 13, 2023

"When someone gets badly hurt maybe it will be realised this was done on purpose to target us somehow which we need to get to bottom of. I am scared doing deliveries this morning for my staff being caged into a section. It’s dangerous."

Also on Twitter, some well-known figures in the LGBTQ nightlife scene weighed in, including Buzz O’Neill-Maxwell and Panti Bliss.

"The bar received an after office hours email on Friday, and Dublin City Council staff were ready to fit it this morning?" Panti tweeted. "When have council staff ever worked this promptly. Something doesn’t add up here."

The bar received an after office hours email on Friday, and @DubCityCouncil staff were ready to fit it this morning? When have council staff ever worked this promptly. Something doesn’t add up here. @LordMayorDublin @CByrneGreen https://t.co/BRYcHQTuni

— Buzz O'Neill-Maxwell (@buzzoneill) June 12, 2023

The issue was also raised up by Green Party councillor Claire Byrne during a DCC meeting last night.

“I love bike racks but dropping them in the loading bay is pure madness. There is no joined up thinking here. The businesses & the city deserve better,” she wrote in a tweet accompanying a video poster on Twitter.

“There doesn’t seem to be any coherent plan when it comes to granting street furniture licenses,” she told the meeting.

To contact Dublin City Council, phone: 01 222 2222 or email [email protected].