Madam, - A brief report in your edition of May 5th said the Save Bewley's Cafés Campaign welcomed the forthcoming sale of Bewley's in Westmoreland Street. Our position is more complex. We do indeed welcome the proposed sale of the café, together with the adjoining hotel and bars, because we are hopeful it will lead to the reopening of the café, which has been closed since November 2004.
However, any buyer should be aware that there are a number of responsibilities attached to owning such a landmark establishment. In its ruling of June 20th, 2005 An Bord Pleanála stated that, "having regard to the long-established and renowned use of the premises as a café, which is considered of special importance to the civic life and the architectural cultural, social and historical life of the city", the historic Fleet, Middle and Garden rooms must be maintained as a café. The board ruled against any change that would jeopardise their historic interiors. Moreover, the protection of both the Grafton Street and the Westmoreland Street Bewley's as cafés has now been written into the Dublin City Development Plan.
The closure of the two cafés seventeen months ago came as a huge blow. Happily, the Grafton Street branch has been reopened. At an event marking Europe Day in Bewley's of Grafton Street last week, the Austrian Ambassador, whose EU Council presidency is taking part in an initiative called Café d'Europe, spoke enthusiastically about the great cafés of Europe and cited Bewley's as an example of them. Let us hope that next year the Café d'Europe initiative will be able to host an event in a restored of Bewley's café in Westmoreland Street. - Yours, etc,
EMER BURTON,
MICHAEL CONAGHAN,
MARY MURPHY,
ANN MORONEY,
MARTIN MURPHY,
MARIA NÍ MHURCHÚ,
SIOBHÁN WINDLE,
Save Bewley's Cafés Campaign, Lower Dominick Street, Dublin 1.