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WHEN THE SUN comes out in Ireland, complaints about young people congregating under blue skies are seldom far away. Last week, bollards appeared on Drury Street asking pedestrians to refrain from sitting on the pavement, reading ‘please don’t sit on the curb’ and ‘please don’t block this area’.
Business owners from Drury Street have expressed frustration at the situation, saying that a reduced footfall – due to the crowds socialising and blocking the street – is harming their trade.
The Irish Design Shop labelled the scene as “a total nightmare” on Instagram, asking their followers for suggestions as to how to navigate the crowds drinking on Drury Street, wondering out loud whether it was time to relocate, as they were unsure how they could continue to trade on a “drinking street”.
“Closing on Saturday afternoon was a battle,” the post reads. “It was even hard to clear drinkers from the shop windows just to get the shutter down. Streets change, town has definitely changed. Is town solely for socialising now?”
Speaking to this publication during the week, Ronan Rogerson of Drury Buildings said he was “dreading the summer” if things continued as they were in that location.
Madeleine Blaine from The Collective told RTÉ news that people were “having a picnic with bought-in drinks from around the corner… I have no issues about drinking in the sun, but this is meant to be a co-living space where we’re meant to have pubs and bars and shops.”
I empathise completely with the business owners on Drury Street, who have doubtless faced anti-social behaviour such as people urinating and getting sick on the street in front of their storefronts. But the suggestion that Dublin City Centre is solely for socialising these days is hard to believe, given that cultural and social spaces in the city have consistently come under threat in the last decade. In 2022, it was reported that approximately 32 high-profile cultural buildings had closed in Dublin over the previous two decades.
In February 2025, figures have shown there were only 70 nightclubs left in Ireland, 23 of which are in Dublin. It is estimated that without serious Government intervention, nightclubs could dwindle away in the coming years – a fact even more likely now that extending late licenses is no longer a key priority in the Programme for Government in 2025.
Serious underinvestment in new music venues and cultural spaces over the past decade has allowed developers to push instead for more hotels, office spaces and luxury apartment buildings in Dublin. More value has been placed on consumption rather than recreation, and the Drury Street debacle is a glaring example of the mindset that businesses should take precedence over the public, who are craving places that they can exist in without the need to spend money.
Add this to the ever-worsening housing crisis, and you create a country where young people feel like they are being choked as they try to exist. It’s no surprise that many emigrate, and there are many more who are considering it in the hopes of a better lifestyle. I moved to Belgium in 2021, and I have seen firsthand how a city can thrive for both young and old with the right imagination and political will.
Three years later, and it still amazes me how much the city feels like it belongs to the people living in it. As soon as the sun appears, people head out to one of the many parks in the city with a picnic and a bottle of prosecco. Terraces are usually full of people sitting outside dining, and the vibrancy of the city in those moments is infectious.
Many festivals are also organised during the summer from the taxes people pay. For example, Martin Solvig played in front of the Royal Palace in May 2023. A celebration for World Music Day happens every June, with stages dotted around the city centre, and a large-scale concert with fireworks to celebrate Belgium’s national day happens every July. Pop-up bars are installed in the city parks where people can buy food and drinks all summer, too.
The best part about all of this is how well these public spaces are managed when events are planned. There are extra bins provided, and volunteers are present to help guide you and monitor crowds. Public toilets are installed throughout the city, and generally, people behave well and clean up their rubbish after themselves. The city even encourages the use of public spaces, offering individuals and businesses grants to host new events around the city.
The key difference between Brussels and Dublin is that Dublin’s outdoor socialising has evolved naturally, perhaps out of necessity, and because socialising outdoors became popular during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Brussels has cultivated its social spaces and prepared for the inevitable crowds that will appear. There is a return on investment from the taxes people working in Belgium pay, and the city feels like it is a shared space built on mutual respect.
Dublin City Council needs to lean into what the public evidently wants – opportunities to mix with peers in a city that doesn’t feel like it is bleeding them dry. Maybe the answer is more pedestrianised streets, like Capel Street, to take the pressure off Drury Street. Or maybe installing pop-up bars run by local breweries in parks around the city, along with public bathrooms and extending park opening hours, would encourage people to congregate in open spaces instead of around shop fronts.
The Council seems willing to find a viable solution – stating it will coordinate with the public and businesses on Drury Street – but whether this can be done before the next spot of sun depends on the willingness of everyone to work together.
Conor Brummell is a freelance writer and communications professional currently based in Brussels, Belgium.
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