What was once of the thriving
commercial centres of Dublin and the lifeblood of the city’s culture, has now
become a black spot for closed businesses and derelict buildings.
With the combination of the
economic downturn and negligence of the Liberties, this area encapsulates the
manner in which Ireland misspent its fortunes to become the debt-ridden country
it is today.
At eleven o’clock on a Wednesday morning, Dame St is as vibrant
and busy with heavily vehicle traffic as usual and with shops and restuarants,
large and small, open for business. A
swift turn left up George’s Street South and the traffic may not change
dramatically, but the vibrancy most certainly does.
Closed shutters of closed businesses and “to let” signs are
visible from the foot of the street, and this view only gets less promising as
you continue up this road.
There are ten closed down businesses on George’s Street
alone, including a large building formerly a Dunnes Stores clothing store, with
a sign stating that “We have relocated to our flagship store at St Stephen’s
Green. We hope to see you there”.
Why there, and not
here?
Quiznos Subs, a
similar business to the popular deli-style restaurant Subway, are another
business to have recently moved away from this area to St Stephen’s Green.
Just across from this vacant office is a huge derelict
building that was once The Outlet Store.
Not only is the large shop itself shut, but the three storeys above appear
to be neglected, and for a considerably period judging by the poor state of the
upper storey windows.
If George’s St
painted a bleak picture, the outlook doesn’t get any rosier crossing onto
Aungier St.
By the time you get to DIT Aungier Street, you will have
already passed twenty two closed down businesses and neglected buildings, and
this is all in a five minute walk.
Some sense of vibrancy is restored after Aungier St, on
Camden Street, with the presence of popular spots such as Whelan’s, Solas, Ryan’s
Bar and the Bank of Ireland, but more importantly, prosperity and
sustainability on the whole, aren’t restored.
Include Camden Street Lower in your walk and you’ve walked
by a staggering thirty seven closed businesses and neglected buildings, some of
these fenced off to prevent trespassing.
What was a commercial centre similar to Grafton St up until
the 1970s, had been left to decline and decay long before the whispers of the
word “recession”. In need of urban
renewal is an understatement. This part
of the city needs to be rescued and revitalised, and the recent recession has
only hindered any hope of this happening.
The presence of three third-level institutions such as DIT,
Dublin Business School and the Royal College of Surgeons has accommodated for
certain kinds of business such as coffee shops, restaurants, pubs and computer
stores, but the businesses these thousands of students may provide is clearly
not enough to keep these few streets alive.
Pavel Romanovskis, owner of Vitamin Shop on Aungier St, said
that a rejuvenation of this area wouldn’t make any big difference to business,
as most of the in the shops’ target
market in the area were the students in the nearby colleges. But this reliance
on students also poses problems for business owners such as Romanovskis.
“Things are going ok”, he said, “I rely mostly on students
for business, but because of this my shop is fairly quiet when the colleges are
closed.”
Romanovskis’s shop specialises in fitness products and
protein supplements, products that are mostly popular among young men.
“I don’t think improving these streets would make much
difference to business, as it’s the problems of the whole country and not just
this street that have a caused a slowdown in business”, he added.
With the approval of the Grangegorman as the site to
amalgamate all the DIT colleges together on one campus, will mean the removal
of thousands of students and their spending money from the area.
“I know DIT Aungier St may be going in a few years time, but
there are other colleges in the area. If I’m still here in a few years, I may
have to consider relocating. We’ll have
to see”, Romanovskis concluded.
Gagan Singh, owner of Sim Sim Mobile, a small shop on
Aungier St that specialises in mobile phones and accessories, has ran his
business here for over ten years and is seeing the effect the recession is
having on this once-thriving area.
“Up to three years ago, these streets were very busy”, said
Singh, “but since the recession, the streets are practically empty.”
Even though these streets are filled with thousands of
college students during the week, spending mentalities have receded among
students, along with the economy.
“Business is at its worst now; people are spending less,
they aren’t upgrading or buying mobiles as often as they used to”, he added.
Although the recession has caused the decline of business
worldwide, there are clearly other factors contributing to the lack of
prosperity in this particular area of the city.
Not only are customers spending less, but so is the
Government, and in turn Dublin City Council.
“Some effort needs to be made to improve this part of town;
it’s run down” said Singh,” In the UK the Government spend to rebuild run down
parts of cities. This needs to be done here too.”
The current Government allowed the growth of a huge property
bubble, which inevitably burst with dire consequences for the country’s
economic future, but why were areas such as the Liberties laid to wither for so
long?
With bail-outs looming and the Irish nation glooming,
Aungier St, George’s St, and Camden St would all be perfectly apt settings for
the scenes that will depict the struggle Ireland is faced with in the coming
years, unless the next Government can find it in their hearts and pockets, some
way to restore this once-prospering part of the city.
