Plaza Politics: A year after the concert furore, the civic plaza at the heart of Smithfield is still shamefully under-used, and residents have only recently been consulted about its future, writes Ian Kilroy
REMEMBER the hype about this time last year? The Manic Street Preaches and The Buena Vista Social Club, David Gray and Sting - it was all going to happen in the newly remade "civic plaza" of Smithfield, traditionally the heart of neglected inner-city Dublin 7. Eight concerts were to be staged on Smithfield square. In the end, only two happened, as part of the 2001 Heineken Green Energy Festival, the others being transferred to Marlay Park because of resistance from Smithfield residents. Now, another Heineken Green Energy Festival later, and still Smithfield's civic square lies dormant. The most exciting public space constructed in the capital for decades remains sadly under-used.
Even the city architect, Jim Barrett, says so: "I would say it's being under-utilised and has huge potential . . . it is there for the citizens to use." Short of ambling across it in transit to elsewhere, Dublin's citizens seem to have very little reason to go to Smithfield. It may be used as a backdrop for shooting advertisements - from Guinness ads to car ads - but other than that there are no definite plans yet to utilise the space for special events over the summer months.
The neglect of Smithfield square as a venue for civic events is a direct fall-out of the conflict between Dublin City Council and the Smithfield Residents' Committee over last year's concerts. The residents felt that there was not enough local consultation, that they would be prisoners in their own homes during the concerts and that the drink served at the events would result in people vomiting and urinating around their neighbourhood. The residents were alienated from the organisation of the events: they were not offered free tickets by MCD, the promoters of the Smithfield concerts, and needed special passes to get into their own area. In short, a public residential space was hired out for private profit, against the wishes of those who lived there.
Much media coverage of the debacle ensued, the publicity was bad and the last six concerts were relocated. What had been learned was that proper local consultation is vital - something that Mary Weir, of Dublin City Council's event management section, says is now taking place. "We've set up a working group with local residents and business people to look at possible uses for the space. However, we haven't had a huge opportunity to do a lot of work in relation to it yet . . . we certainly want to get a draft policy document done within four to six months," she says.
Because she says Dublin City Council "wants to move things on", Weir indicates the group will meet fortnightly - it has had two meetings since late April. But this is a whole year after the first of the controversial Smithfield concerts, which was staged on May 4th, 2001. The result of such slow movement is that Smithfield square still has no definite programming for summer 2002 although, according to Weir, there are plans to hold some small-scale pilot projects in the space - such as a food market - but, again, that is not yet agreed.
While both Mary Weir and Jim Barrett stress that the space is available for use, and that Dublin City Council is open to approaches regarding its use, others argue that Smithfield needs a more pro-active approach to programming. The kind of approach, for example, that has proved so successful in Meeting House Square and Temple Bar more generally.
Laura Magahy, managing director of Magahy and Company, formerly of Temple Bar Properties, says that "Smithfield probably needs full-time programming and animation on a year-round basis . . . it's a space waiting to happen, with a tradition waiting to be tapped". Magahy equates programming for Smithfield with programming for a theatre or cinema, which suggests going after events actively, rather than waiting for events to come your way - the kind of approach that Dublin City Council is now employing.
But, the various problems with programming for Smithfield aside, the rejuvenation of the area more generally also seems to have been less than spectacular - a fact that cannot help attract events to the civic square. Ceol, the traditional Irish music centre, which was conceived as the cultural anchor project of the Smithfield Village complex by property developer Terry Devey, failed dismally to attract the public and has now closed. The Duck Lane retail outlet of Smithfield Village has shut. A planned leisure centre for the development is not now going to happen. And there have been problems with the flats in the Smithfield Village complex managed by Wyse management: malicious fire in the underground car-park, resulting in sewage backing up into flats and a subsequent notice served by Dublin City Council's environmental health officer. These kinds of setbacks - along with the controversy surrounding last summer's concerts - have considerably taken away from the sheen of Smithfield, which was reopened only three years ago as Dublin's bright new urban future.
The fact that the west side of the square has not yet been developed doesn't help either. While the archaeological excavation going on there is essential, it holds up the development, and therefore the creation of the kind of population density and critical mass that is now required to restart the flagging rejuvenation of Smithfield.
THE planned 328 apartments, almost 8,000 sq m of offices, 5000 sq m of retail and leisure facilities, as well as the 6,500 sq m earmarked for an as yet unspecified cultural use on the west side site should bring massive amounts of new life to the area. Joe Linders of Fusano Properties Ltd, one of those behind the west side development, says that he hopes that building will commence on the site sometime this summer.
As it stands, the gaping dereliction on the west side of the square gives Smithfield a rough and unfinished look. Joan McConvey, chairwoman of the Smithfield Residents' Committee, also points out that the old residents and their children have not been catered for in this whole new development. Despite the millions spent on developing the area, there still is no playground for the local children, who can be seen every day of the week playing on the streets, at risk from passing traffic. "There should be a plan to put a playground in the future development," says McConvey. "All the children do is watch the cars go by. Whoever develops the area should be required to put something back in . . . especially for the children," she says. McConvey argues that the sense of community is waning in Smithfield, that no one knows their neighbours any more because of the new and transient population in the area. The provision of affordable apartments that are big enough for family living in the new complex yet to be built would mean that people stay in the area to raise families, have a stake in Smithfield and put something back into the area, she says.
As for the use of the square, McConvey says that residents "want to see smaller events with local participation". She adds that some events - like when U2 were given the freedom of the city last year - were well managed in Smithfield, and that "it was the kind of civic event that we don't mind. We're not against people having fun," she says.
When in the years ahead the west side of the square is developed and the Smithfield Luas stop brings the quarter closer to the city centre, there will probably be a lot of fun to be had in Smithfield. That fun may be deliberately programmed or impromptu, as the square takes on its own life as a civic centre, with bustling shops, cafes, bars, businesses and cultural activity. For the moment, however, that kind of vibrancy seems a long way off.