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Irish Times
09-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Dublin City Council gives go ahead for food hall at well known former church
Dublin City Council has given the green light to Fáilte Ireland for its planning application to set up a food hall at the vacant St Andrew's Church on Suffolk Street in central Dublin . The council has granted planning permission after concluding that the food hall would comply with the zoning objective of the site and would not detract from the area's civic character. Fáilte Ireland will not be operating the food hall itself. Instead, it will seek an operator to lease the space. [ Fáilte Ireland plans food hall at former Dublin church Opens in new window ] In a letter to Dublin City Council, Laura McCarthy from FailtFáilte Ireland proposed change of use for the premises has the potential to create a major centrally based asset for the city, with the potential to inject cultural and economic value which would benefit local residents, employees and all visitors, both domestic and foreign'. READ MORE Manager at Corporate Services at FailtFáilte IrelandMcCarthy pointed out that food tourism generates around €2 billion to the Irish economy each year. 'In order to generate and sustain further economic opportunity and economic development we need to create iconic food and drink experiences – the proposed change of use and redevelopment of St Andrew's would be the embodiment of that vision,' she said. 'It is envisaged that the proposed food hall will showcase the best of local and Irish produce within a very high-quality setting which will not only reinvigorate but repurpose part of our capital city's historic building inventory,' Ms McCarthy added. Planning documents stated that the new food hall has the potential to generate 30 to 40 full and part-time jobs. The Swords-based Wright Group secured planning for a food hall at St Andrews church in 2019 through its Mink Fusion subsidiary but with the Covid-19 pandemic intervening the firm did not proceed with the five year planning permission. In a separate planning report lodged with the application by David Mulcahy Planning Consultants, it stated that the proposed new use 'will bring life back to this vacant building which is one of the most prominent buildings in the city'.
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Breast not to touch: Dublin orders tourists to leave Molly Malone alone
Each time a tourist sidled up to the statue and reached for the most famous cleavage in Dublin, a voice called out: 'No touching please.' Two city council stewards stood vigil over the landmark on Tuesday to notify would-be gropers that Molly Malone was to be left alone. After years of supposedly bringing good luck to whomever touched the breasts, they were now off-limits. To reduce damage to the statue, and to protect the dignity of a Dublin symbol, city authorities have posted the stewards in a week-long pilot project while they ponder other ways to shield the bronze figure from tactile appreciation. 'I was here a few days ago and got to touch them then,' said Anders Oustid, 42, from Norway. 'I don't think they should stop people. It's a fun gimmick that you can come here and touch the boobs. It's good luck and apparently means that you'll get to come back to Dublin.' Anders Oustid, a tourist from Norway, at Dublin's Molly Malone statue Photograph: Rory Carroll/The Guardian Mars Masana, 33, from Barcelona, had also touched the cleavage on a previous visit to the statue on Suffolk Street and was hesitant about the prohibition. 'I suppose in Spain we would feel the same if people were touching such a statue all the time.' Molly Malone – by many accounts a fictional 18th-century fishmonger's wife – is the subject of a ballad, known as 'cockles and mussels', that is an unofficial anthem for Ireland, sung at wedding, parties and sporting fixtures. The sculpture, by the artist Jeanne Rynhart, was first erected in 1988 and promptly dubbed 'the tart with the cart' in reference to the cleavage and rumours that Molly sold more than fish. A creative tour guide is credited, or blamed, with inventing the story that touching her breasts would bring luck and a return trip to Ireland's capital. The result is discoloration where countless hands have passed – and indignation by some who consider it disrespectful. They include Tilly Cripwell, a music activist who last year launched a Leave Molly Alone campaign. Elaja Declercq, 17, from Belgium, obeyed, but regretted, the injunction to not touch. 'I understand some think it's inappropriate but it's a tradition.' Her two friends – Erasmus students who had come to film themselves singing the ballad – agreed. Kjenta Galens (l), Elaja Declercq (c) and Victoria Zemajduk, visiting Erasmus students, at the statue. Photograph: Rory Carroll/The Guardian Ray Yeates, the city council's arts officer, said authorities were considering options, including leaving the statue in place and simply repairing the damage as needed, or erecting a fence, or moving it, perhaps indoors. The stewards' interactions with people this week will inform the final decision. Yeates told the BBC that while a 'worldwide phenomenon that statues are touched or rubbed' has become a custom, some people had noted that it mimicked undesirable behaviour. 'It would be illegal in public, so why would we mimic it?' Naomi Smith, 70, from Australia, was struck by the statue's revealing attire. 'It makes me cold just to look at her. She would have been awfully cold going around like this.'
