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THE DIRECTOR OF Operations at iconic Dublin department store Clerys has said that the capital’s main thoroughfare is a cold and dangerous environment.
Speaking to the Dail committee on jobs, Bob Parker said:
“O’Connell Street is a very cold environment. I don’t see a café culture. I don’t see a reason for tourists to come to the area to stop and take in the history, the beautiful architecture and then decide with their own feet who’s going to get their tourist euro.”
The department store has had a presence on Dublin’s main street since the mid-nineteenth century, interrupted only briefly after the original building that housed it was destroyed during the 1916 rising.
Parker said that, despite several recent policing initiatives to tackle drug use and anti-social behaviour in the area, many people still feel unsafe around Clerys.
“One out of three don’t find it safe in daylight hours, and two out of three at dusk or nighttime.”
He referred to a recent incident in which two tourists were hospitalised after an assault under Clerys Clock last week.
Fianna Fail deputy Dara Calleary echoed his sentiments, saying:
You’re right about O’Connell Street not being a nice place to go…there’s just something cold about it.
Value, not rates blamed
Parker was speaking to the Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation committee on measures to support business growth and job creation.
Both Parker and Brown Thomas director Stephen Sealey argued for a reduction in commercial rates for smaller independent businesses, but said that they were happy to continue paying their own rates at their current levels.
Sealey told the committee that he would like “better service for the rates I pay, but not a reduction”.
He said that the luxury retailer spend €26,000 per year powerhosing the pavement outside the shop, in addition to the work the council does on the surface.
He said he would be happier paying the rates if he felt he got a “clean, safe, attractive city centre” in return.
Parker agreed, saying: “We’re not looking for a rate reduction, but for value for money.”
Pressure
Sinn Fein deputy Peadar Toibin said that under funding of local authorities had pushed county and town councils to raise money from business rates and car-parking charges, which had “killed the goose that lays the golden egg” by forcing shoppers out of town.
Toibin suggested that tying rate levels to profitability could help particularly struggling retailers.
Director of Retail Ireland Stephen Lynam said that Ireland had shipped the biggest retail losses during the recession out of all EU countries.
He said that rates hikes meant retailers were “squeezed in terms of their own costs while their consumer base had less money”.
A rates holiday, especially for a retailer who had taken over a vacant premises, would help inject more life into the main streets of Ireland’s town centres, Lynam said.
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They are the lowest of the low.
It’s not even a shock anymore. The Russian army have no morals. Savages.
It’s very hard to see through the propaganda in this war. If you believe the Ukrainians, the Russians are nearly beaten. Listen to Russian side and the Ukrainians are surrendering in droves. As for asov, I wouldn’t believe anything they say.
@Bart Teeling: are you talking to the azov lads much ?
@Rian Lynch: nah, don’t really get on with nazis who drag civilians into their bunkers as human shields. If they want to go to Valhalla, fine, but let the civilians go.
@Bart Teeling: human shields dont work on russians though do they.
@Bart Teeling: the Russians lie about everything. From the Malaysian flight, to Salisbury, to no plans to invade and just running war games. Also lied about not using the rocket that blew up the station. Odious regime
@John Comerford: they’re no different to the other major aggressors, the US and UK lie to invade countries too. War is a horrific and shameful constant in our world, young lives snuffed out by the decisions of greedy old men.
@Bart Teeling: I think @Rian Lynch has your logic by the neck there…
@Bart Teeling: why would Ukrainians drag their countryman into their bunkers? To shield themselves from Russian “soldiers”!? Its painful how some people are brainwashed by putlers propaganda. Glory to Ukrainians
@Bart Teeling: Bart how do you know they are doing this? Believe everything Russia tells you?
my but the bots are out in force this morning
@Rian Lynch: noticed that myself. Definitely at least 3 on here already
@Rian Lynch: John ” there’s a worse crisis in Yemen” Maloney is up early to head to the bookies.
@Dave Johnston: have a look at declan gilsenan below . hes trying to make it a jewish conspiracy
@Rian Lynch: i don’t understand any Irish person siding with the Russians in this conflict. Hoping that they are based in Orwell road. Would be sad to think that these are Irish. To Declan there are a lot of very powerful Russian Jews. Not sure what he is trying to imply but not good.
With all due respect to those fighters, they are now fighting a losing battle in that steel plant and must fully realise that those animals are not going to just pack up and head back to Russia. Time to call it a day and let those women and children have a chance to live. Ukraine have somewhere between 600-800 russian pow’s, so it’s possible the fighters could get back as part of a prisoner swap. Although perhaps Russia would not be keen on swaps involving Azov.
@Tommy Roche: which is probbaly why they wont surrender. they know theyll be paraded out for some show trial and then either executed or imprisoned forever in some hell hole in Russia.
@Tommy Roche: Russia have kidnapped many thousands of Ukrainian civilians from Eastern Ukraine. Removing them against their will to “camps” in Russia and they are playing this off to Russian TV as Ukrainian refugees seeking shelter from Ukrainians Nazi government. They hold the upper hand. Do you think they care about their soldiers being held as POWs? They sent them to war under false pretences. Also we have seen Russian troops targeting and killing civilians in towns right across Ukraine including Mariupol, why do we think they’d allow them to live if they surrendered? The west should have responded militarily when it was clear what was happening. As much as Russia will be judged by history for their actions the west will be judged for our inaction.
@Rian Lynch: So they’re going to sit in some hole in Avozstol until a Russian bunker buster comes through the roof and kills not only them, but the hundreds of women and children stuck in there with them ? They are definitely going to die if they stay there but have at least some chance if they surrender. Just reading telegram now and they are saying the Russians have proposed a ceasefire from 2pm (12pm GMT). Also putting up names, photos, dates of birth of those still alive inside.
@Tommy Roche: yeah because the russians can be trusted to protect civilians.
@Gerry McCaughey: They have swapped many POW’s already, plus swapped Ukrainian POW’s for the return of the bodies of Russian troops. This is all 100% Russia’s fault and I’m in no way defending what they have done. Just pointing out that they do seem to care about their POW’s, or at least some of them.
@Tommy Roche: maybe some of them. But they also turned down a temporary ceasefire offered by the Ukraine a few weeks ago so that Russia could collect the bodies of their fallen soldiers to send them home to their mothers. There seems to be a large rogue element in Russias military. Some soldiers I’m sure are obeying the rules of law and we have seen many surrender because they were ordered to target civilians. It seems the troops attacking Mariupol have no principles from what we’ve seen. They have bombed almost every civilian building in the city and attacked convoys of civilians leaving during the first short lived ceasefire. I don’t know if I’d trust them to behave if Ukrainians surrendered to them.
@Gerry McCaughey: Definately agree with you that some units of the Russian military are out of control. Seems that many of them actually believe that they are doing good by killing those they believe to be nationalists, and that the majority of civilians wanted them to invade to save them from the ‘nazis’. Crazy stuff that shows the damage that has been caused by exposing russians to years of state media, RT talk shows etc. The likes of our own MEP’s appearing on those shows telling the ‘truth’ about what the EU and NATO were up to certainly didn’t help matters.
@Tommy Roche: totally agree. The scary thing is that this has really exposed Russian society. The amount of anti West hate and blind belief in Putin is scary. It’s also made me think that all those landslide victories for Putin in elections weren’t vote rigging. Once he got rid of any opponent he was worried about he probably did get all those votes. It’s going to take a major change in the political status quo in Russia after this is over and maybe a generation of living under proper freedom before Russia isn’t a threat. Hard to believe that the current Putin supporters were young people when Gorbachev was in power with his openness and freedom.
@Gerry McCaughey: gerry I spent a lot of time in Russia. Worse place I ever worked. They hate the west it is ingrained in them. Didn’t matter I was Irish – my crime was western.
People on here cheering them on are clueless. They want to destroy the west
Some talk about the 9th May that Putin and the Russians will celebrate Victory day. Will we and the Russian people have to witness the Obscenity of what they have done to their neighbours in Ukraine been celebrated. Absolutely not
@Declan Gilsenan: youre wearing all the tinfoil arent you
@Declan Gilsenan: Zelensky was an actor/ comedian who played the part of the president in a Ukrainian sitcom. He then ran for office and was elected president. Other than Putin (who might be a tad biased) nobody has suggested that his election was anything other than fair and free.
It does seem that a high proportion of artists, actors writers etc are of the Jewish faith. I can’t be sure why that is, perhaps the Jewish faith promotes intelligence, creativity etc.
Have you another theory?
@Declan Gilsenan: isn’t it odd that Putin talks about how the country is run by Nazis despite Zelensky being Jewish and having ancestors who were killed by the actual Nazis? Stop trying to make this about anything other than Putin being a land grabbing psychopath.
@Declan Gilsenan: what an absolute bell end you are.
@Declan Gilsenan: he won the election run off getting over 70% of the vote. The candidate in second place stated that the election was fair and had no complaints. Putin on the other had jailed/poisoned his opponents and murdered dozens of journalists.
@Gerry McCaughey: that’s all he is after I think the land and the population that comes with it.
@Declan Gilsenan: — If you’re worried about the number of Jews, there must be quite a few in the Kremlin, not to mention in the ranks of the Russian Oligarchs. It would have been more than dense to disband NATO, as your psycho employer would have sent his forces into the former Iron Curtain countries so that the people in Kaliningrad wouldn’t feel so isolated. Actually, I think the Russians should leave Kalinigrad so that it could revert to Konigsberg, which was never Russian.
@shligo boyzz: yup and the notoriety. He wants go down in history as the man who tried to reunite the old Soviet Union. I have no doubt that he will continue if he gets away with this. Unless rumours about his health are true and he kicks the bucket.
Anything Russian throw it off your shelves
Death,loss, material damage and plunder Putin inflicted cant be measured with anything. Not to mention filtration camps.Ukraine will win though.
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