Litter issue: Merchants Arch in Dublin's Temple Bar is causing a problem for tourists as it is often left in a filthy condition and is intimidating, local traders have claimed.
Fiona O'Sullivan of Custom Ireland, a tourism company whose office on Wellington Quay is next to Merchants Arch, said this weekend there would be many thousands of people in the area, and the problem sent out the wrong image from an important cultural centre.
Merchants Arch was the main thoroughfare to Temple Bar and people were sleeping rough there. Although she had sympathy for them, they left rubbish and dirt. "Tourism is very important to the area. Traders have spoken to Dublin City Council and gardaí about it, but there needs to be some initiative."
Some bars had allowed non-customers to use their toilets to discourage urination, and worse, in the streets, she said.
Dublin City Council's public-domain officer Kevin O'Sullivan accepted there were problems with Merchants Arch. "We have had problems with the beggars there, so it is a particular problem and we have been working with the gardaí to solve this. We know it is difficult at times. But it is cleaned. I walked past there this morning and the smell of disinfectant there would knock you out."
He said they generally were praised for the way they cleaned the area. Council cleaners started in Temple Bar at 2am and went on until 6.30am to 7am.
Lisa Fitzsimons of TASCQ (Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter) in Temple Bar said the organisation had more than 80 members. They had not made any complaints about cleaning. Part of their membership fee would pay for 10 extra men to provide cleaning services along with council workers this weekend, she added.