Dublin City Council plans to solve lack of public toilets after requests made during lockdown

The Council says it is acutely aware of the lack of public toilets

Dublin City Council is working to solve the public toilet shortage in the capital - a problem highlighted by the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Council says it is acutely aware of the lack of public toilets as the capital starts to slowly reopen.

One business owner has launched a campaign to have two portaloos installed in the city centre to highlight the shortage of facilities.

Richard Hanlon, co-owner of Busyfeet and Coco café on South William Street, is warning people will be put off coming into town otherwise.

Mr Hanlon has started a petition in an effort to improve the public toilet shortage and increase hand washing facilities on  uplift.ie.

He said: “The current crisis has accentuated the urgent issue of the city’s poor hygiene infrastructure which will have an adverse effect on both public health and the survival of city centre commercial areas.

This petition calls on Dublin City Council in the wake of Covid-19 and to address the urgent issue of the city’s poor hygiene infrastructure and lack of public toilets.

“DCC currently has no action plan or budget allocated to place temporary toilets in and around the city, to be in place ahead of the June 8th (Phase 2) of unlocking the economy.

“Under the road map to reopen Ireland’s society and economy we will move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 on June 8. This will mean significantly increased movement of citizens and an influx to the city which will be a major event within Dublin.

“This also will be a key economic turning point for the Dublin city centre commerce, but due to ongoing restrictions there will be no accessible toilet or hand washing facilities for the public to use till Phase 3 June 28. When some hospitality and retailers could allow access to their loos.

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The small business owner added: “My concern is the lack of availability of public toilets in Dublin’s city centre currently and into the future, with only 2 public toilets operational at Connelly & Hueston stations for a city of 650,000 people at this time.

“Who will return to the city centre, when they cannot find toilets and hand washing places during this Covid-19 crisis?

“Without people, we have no commerce and Dublin has no future. Dublin City Council has to spend more than a penny now and act for the people of Dublin, so let's see them make a positive move soon and save our Dublin city’s heart from dirt, dereliction and disintegration.”

However bathrooms in cafes and restaurants will not available until at least the end of June when they begin to reopen.

In a statement Dublin City Council says it has been working with gardai and other stakeholders to develop an overall plan for reopening of the city on June 8.

The local authority said: “…investigating various avenues to solve the public toilet issue”.

The council went on to say it is more than willing to have discussions with City Centre businesses and representative groups around the role they can play in working with the Council to solve the issue.