Speakers' Square for Temple Bar every Sunday

A Dublin equivalent of Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner is due to open in Temple Bar on Sunday week.

A Dublin equivalent of Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner is due to open in Temple Bar on Sunday week.

Unlike its London counterpart, however, the Speakers' Square, or Cearnóg na gCainteoirí, will be constrained by laws of defamation.

Several politicians, poets and other orators have been lined up for the inaugural gathering at Temple Bar Square on April 25th.

The event will be the culmination of almost 10 years' campaigning by traditional musician Mr Rossa Ó Snodaigh for a place in Dublin where city-dwellers can freely speak their mind.

READ MORE

"I tried to get one set up in St Stephen's Green, and then outside the Central Bank. Finally, Temple Bar Properties succumbed to my advances and gave us this space," said the Kila band-member.

The soap-box is due to run between noon and 4 p.m. each Sunday with speakers operating on a first-come-first-served basis. Speakers will be encouraged to speak in any language "provided it's not foul language," according to the rules.

Joe Humphreys

Joe Humphreys

Joe Humphreys is an Assistant News Editor at The Irish Times and writer of the Unthinkable philosophy column