Re: Re: college green/ o’connell street plaza and pedestrians

Sorry to divert from the gate, but just on an earlier subject in this thread which was – I know – a divisive one: the gated concourse of Bank of Ireland.

Not sure if any of you checked it out, but they held a farmers’ market there on Wednesday and it was a bit of an eye-opener. As far as I know it was purely a once-off to promote some BOI entrepreneurship thing, but it was a really good use of the space. Even on as dreary a day as Wednesday was, it gave a bit of life to the College Green area and pretty starkly emphasised how a part of the city with such potential has become just a big obnoxious junction.

Yes, the arguments for and against either opening the concourse during the day or getting rid of the railings altogether have been had, but using the space like this was a really positive move, even if some of the bankers didn’t look too comfortable with the proximity of those weird longhairs encroaching on their territory.

Anyway, I think it proved that – even as just a summer thing – that area can really be put to good use for the public. Plus, with a bus gate in force, it could actually be slightly peaceful.

But it’s not going to happen, is it?