The Demise of Dublin’s Fair City – the Increase in Closures and Crime
Increased closures in hospitality
It has become incredibly challenging to remain optimistic at a time when so many businesses within the industry are forced to close. Conducting business in our industry has become increasingly unattainable. Over the last number of weeks, we see evidence of this in Dublin City Centre. The capital’s city centre is the epicentre of the hospitality and tourism industry in Ireland and it was extremely disheartening to receive news of such closures. Several iconic, long-established businesses announced their closure in recent weeks. ‘Ukiyo’. a karaoke bar and restaurant on Exchequer Street is closing after 20 years in business and Brasserie Sixty and The Rustic Stone have also announced their closure and more recently Chophouse was the latest to be added to the list. This is a major blow for the nighttime economy of the city, and we can be forgiven for thinking that this is an indication of the rapid decline of industry in Dublin’s City Centre. The reasons for these closures are readily apparent, most notably the increase in Vat rate alongside increasing costs of operating a business and staffing issues.
Dublin – a city of disrepute
There is also the issue of criminality, which is evident in all city centres to varying degrees. Tourism has always played a pivotal role in the success of businesses in the industry and criminality is often a key deterrent for visitors to our city.
Pickpocketing is rapidly becoming a serious concern for businesses in the city. This century old crime can no longer be considered a petty crime, pickpocketing is now organised by European crime gangs. These organisations employ individuals who usually operate in pairs and are predominantly female to target city centre tourism hotspots such as, Dame Street, The Guinness Storehouse and Temple bar. They tend to blend in with groups of tourists often joining walking tours.
In July a pickpocket was caught in the act at the new Dublin to New York portal. The portal allowed for real time interaction between the two cities, and it has become a major attraction to both tourists and natives of the city. The pickpocket was caught red handed by an American tourist as he attempted to slip his hand into the man’s pocket. The tourist later described the incident as unsettling and a violation. Such crimes have the potential to significantly impact the reputation of Dublin city as a warm, welcoming safe place to visit. This is also a major problem in other European cities with Paris and Rome ranked as the top cities for pickpocketing.
Providing a service – change is needed
Vincent Jennings the CEO of the ‘Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association of Ireland’ has urged all businesses in the city centre to develop a unified strategy and coordinated response to this issue. The GPDR guidelines are hindering the process of identification as these businesses are not permitted to share pictures or descriptions of these individuals. He maintains that is now severely impacting the ability to provide a service in the city.
Paschal Donohue has reacted to claims that the city centre is in decline. He claims that this is not the case but acknowledges that there is work to be done to improve the city centre.
“We want to make the capital a great city to live in, visit and go out in. We are trying to make a safe more secure and more beauty city to live in”
We are hopeful that the Government succeeds in addressing many of the serious issues that industry has been experiencing. Recent negotiations between the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) and the Government must yield positive results. This is imperative as many businesses are barely surviving in the current environment.
