The company which manages Dublin's Temple Bar is trying to obstruct a Channel 4 documentary about hen parties in the so-called "cultural quarter" because it fears its image may be tarnished.
Temple Bar Properties has written to local traders urging them "not to encourage or participate" in the documentary, to be filmed at the end of this month.
The letter, also sent on behalf of a group called Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter, said businesses had worked tirelessly over the last two years to promote Temple Bar as a "safe, dynamic and clean area for visitors, families and residents alike". It claimed "the proposed documentary would adversely affect the image" of the area.
Planet Wild, which is making the documentary for Channel 4, defended the documentary, and said the traders were overreacting.
Producer Mr John Moulson said the documentary would be just one halfhour section of an eight-part series about social life in Dublin. "The idea is to show the vibrancy and economic uplift in Dublin. We're not trying to stereotype Temple Bar as a dumping ground for hen parties," he said. "This series is actually quite a positive thing."
He confirmed, however, that, as part of the production, a film crew would be following a group of north of England women "on the hen" in Temple Bar on the weekend of March 30th and 31st. Channel 4 is expected to broadcast the series later this year, possibly in June or July.
In its letter to traders, Temple Bar Properties underlined the damage caused by stag and hen parties to the local economy, citing research showing Dublin could lose £57 million a year because of the rowdy behaviour of party-goers.
The research estimated that stag/hen parties accounted for between 0.5 and 2 per cent of the city's tourism market but had the potential to discourage more than 13 per cent of tourists from visiting Dublin.
"We need to stop this image of Dublin being the next Ibiza," said Ms Tambra Dillon, general manager of Temple Bar Properties.
She stressed a ban against hen and stag parties in the area, which was introduced by traders at Christmas 1998, was still in force. "The traders have worked really hard to form a genuine cultural community," she said. "Drinking is part of the Irish culture, but it's only one aspect."