DUBLINTOWN RENEWAL:
KNOW THE FACTS BEFORE YOU DECIDE
This year businesses in the DublinTown area will be asked to vote on the renewal of
DublinTown (Dublin City BID). This is your right, as a business operating within the
DublinTown area.
DublinTown believes that you should vote based on verifiable facts. There have been a
number of false and misleading statements made about DublinTown in the run up to this
renewal vote which we would now like to address for the benefit of our members.
1. Statement made: Dublin City Council will
remove graffiti from your building
This is not true. Dublin City Council does not remove
graffiti from business premises. DublinTown does, at no
additional cost to businesses.
As the pictures below illustrate Dublin City Council does not remove graffiti from business
premises. These pictures are outside the DublinTown area. Why would they start
removing from the BID area and how could they justify removing graffiti from one part of
the city and not another? The average incidence of graffiti removed by DublinTown would
cost between €200 and €250 if businesses had to arrange a contractor to remove it for
them. This would amount to €1m per annum, across the DublinTown area, based on
current levels of graffiti damage.
Without DublinTown your street will look like this.
2. Statement made: Dublin City Council will put up the Christmas
lights
Dublin City Council never did and never will put up Christmas Lights throughout the
DublinTown area. If they did they would also be obliged to put up lights in all other areas
of the city. They simply do not have the budget to do this and will have other demands,
such as dealing with the homeless crisis, if additional funding were to become available.
The pictures below were taken on the same night in December 2016, they show a street
outside the BID area and a street within the BID area.
DublinTown has a budget of €250,000 for the erection of Christmas lights and a further
€250,000 for the repair and renewal of lights on over 30 individual streets in the
DublinTown area. This budget is agreed annually by our members at our AGM. Before
DublinTown only four streets had Christmas lights which were paid for by a voluntary
contribution. Not every business contributed and the few that did had to carry a very large
cost between them, in most cases many multiples of what they now pay as a BID levy.
Those businesses have said a voluntary contribution model did not work.
3. Statement made: By voting no to DublinTown you will reduce your
rates
This is untrue. Dublin City Council will still charge you the same amount in rates whether
DublinTown is in existence or not. The councillors serving in Dublin City Council control
and set the budget for rates. The levy you pay DublinTown equates to 1/20th what you pay
in rates to Dublin City Council and members decide how the money is spent in the
DublinTown Area.
4. Statement made: DublinTown is anti-cars
This claim is not true. DublinTown has consistently argued for access to the city for all
modes of transport including cars. This is something we will continue to do on behalf of
our members. We developed the DublinTown Parking App specifically to assist drivers
access carparks and hotels in the city centre and have made submissions to Dublin City
Council and National Transport Authority, noting the importance of the car for the city
economy and the necessity of maintaining access to city car parks.
5. Statement made: DublinTown is in favour of Medically Supervised
Injections in the City Centre
This claim is not true. DublinTown has never advocated this position. DublinTown does
not believe that Medically Supervised Injection Centres are appropriate for the city. This
position is published on our website - wearedublintown.ie
6. Statement made: Footfall in the city centre has been falling
This is not true. Footfall has been steadily rising in the city since 2011. As the graph below
illustrates footfall in the city centre has been increasing consistently since 2014, despite the
extensive Luas works. In fact, we have claimed back market share from the out of town
destinations. The footfall data for Dublin Town is independently recorded and published.
Source: Springboard
7. Statement made: DublinTown’s marketing activities do not have an
impact and members don’t have the opportunity to provide
feedback.
DublinTown created and organise the annual Dine in Dublin Festival and Dublin Fashion
Festival. These events are designed to promote the quality of the city centre offer. These
events put money in tills of businesses. Every year we conduct surveys of members who
participate in these events to gather feedback and incorporate this feedback into future
events. Members input determines how these festivals are run.
DublinTown is an open and transparent organisation that works for the benefit of
members to improve the city centre. If members have any questions on these or any
other issues or if you have any ideas for further improvements, please feel free to contact
us about them. We are always happy to meet with or talk to any members about
concerns or issues you may have and we welcome the opportunity to engage you.