A Dublin city centre back street, blighted by drug use, dumping and crime, remains open more than seven months after its closure was ordered by a local authority.
Dublin city councillors in early January agreed to shut off Harbour Court, which is close to O’Connell Street, but council officials in recent days said it would be at least another month before gates were installed on the lane.
Harbour Court is a T-shaped laneway with three entrances: at Marlborough Street, opposite the Abbey Theatre; at Wynn’s Hotel close to the Luas line; and a third on to Eden Quay. The lane is regularly strewn with rubbish, drug paraphernalia and faeces.
[ Wynn’s Hotel faces closure during peak Metrolink constructionOpens in new window ]
In submissions to the council, businesses complained of drug taking and dealing in the laneway on a daily basis, assaults, sex acts, and a dangerous and unsanitary environment for staff and visitors.
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Harbour Court is predominately used for staff and maintenance access to buildings, as well as bin storage, but also serves as an entrance to Wynn’s Hotel for wheelchair users, as a permanent ramp is not permitted at the front of the historic building.
As part of its submission to the council, the hotel included a review from a guest who was “disgusted” at having to manoeuvre their son’s wheelchair past “obscene graffiti, smells of urine, broken glass, and people who needed some assistance and were a little frightening”.
Several businesses reported having to contact emergency services following overdose incidents or assaults in the alley, and having to regularly powerwash the street.
[ Dublin’s unloved lanes: are street closures the solution to antisocial problems?Opens in new window ]
Following the councillors’ decision to extinguish the public right of way last January, it was agreed with council officials that gates would be erected at the entry points to the laneway, limiting access to property owners and businesses located on the back street.
In response to queries from The Irish Times in March, the council said the specification for the gates had been agreed with local businesses and Dublin Fire Brigade and would “be installed in the near future”. It said in June that the gates were being fabricated with a view to their installation in the summer. In recent days, the council said the gates would be installed in late September.
[ Harbour Court to be closed down due to drugs and crimeOpens in new window ]
Last February, a month after voting in favour of the closure of Harbour Court, councillors asked that a plan be devised for its reopening, with new lighting installed, a mural, Garda patrols, homeless outreach teams and an addiction helpline. However, council manager for the area Frank Lambe said “the decision was made to extinguish the public right of way. That decision was made and stands.”
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