Docklands market comes to life

The biggest open market that Dublin has seen since the demise of the Dandelion 30 years ago will open tomorrow morning in the Docklands.

The Point Village Market will occupy the site around the O2, which opened 18 months ago. The market will run every weekend all year around. Owner Harry Crosbie said he wanted it to be modelled on the medieval squares of Europe and has appealed for ideas from the public to make it vibrant.

More than 100 stallholders have been confirmed for the opening day. Students and the public will be able to sell their wares for free on a first-come first-served basis by applying for one of the 30 available stalls through the market’s website.

There will be a music stage every weekend with an ensemble of musicians from the Dublin City Soul Festival providing the first entertainment and a Theatre of Food marquee which will feature contributions from Clodagh McKenna and Donal Skeehan among others this weekend.

Mr Crosbie said the market was conceived as part of the ongoing generation of the site which he bought 22 years ago for just £800,000. It is being billed as a market for “everything that the Celtic Tiger forgot”.

He said he hoped the village would help raise morale by creating a civic space for artists, musicians and performers. “We need something, anything that brings people together to stop the absolute degradation of people's spirits that is happening in this city,” he said.

“I'm sick of the despondency that is going around. I'm hoping this will be one of the catalysts that turns things around. I want this to be a social experiment to see if we can bring this city alive where people can come down and feel that it is not going to cost them an arm and a leg to be here.”

The market opens from 10am to 5pm tomorrow and Sunday. It is accessible by the Luas which stops there and there is substantial car-parking space around the site.