Locals get a look at €5 million Meath Street facelift – but who is it really for? 

Locals got a closer look at the planned developments for Meath Street on Wednesday April 23, at a public information event at the Hyatt Centric Hotel. 

The walk-in format allowed the public to drop in and see the planned facelift for the historic street in the heart of the Liberties. 

Stephen Coyne of Dublin City Council (DCC) told The Liberty it would cost €5 million and would take between 12 and 15 months to complete. 

“Construction will work its way up the street in sections, so it will only be outside someone’s home or business for a short period” he continued. 

The proposal was approved by DCC in 2023, and construction will begin this year, continuing into 2026. 

The proposed developments will upgrade pedestrian safety by widening footpaths, installing a new pedestrian crossing, and set down parking zones. 

There will also be an outdoor seating area surrounded by new trees, and a new bicycle parking area. 

The project is the latest in a series of public developments aimed at improving a number of main streets in the Liberties, following works done on Francis Street and Thomas Street in 2023. 

The aims of these developments, according to DCC, are to “cherish and enhance Dublin’s renowned streets, and civic spaces”, with an emphasis on “attractiveness and liveability.” 

Some are apprehensive of the planned developments, with worries surfacing over potential gentrification. 

Local master’s student and artist Rudi-Lee McCarthy researches the psycho-political effects of regeneration, and he fears a potential loss of culture, heritage, and identity. 

“[Public engagement] has not been to the standard that its presented to be,” he said. 

“Look at this room – we’re in the back of a hotel, it’s very hard to find, there’s no signs leading the way in. 

“Dublin City Council will say they engaged fully and that it was very fulfilling, while the other side will say ‘we’ve been screaming and shouting over here’.” 

McCarthy engages with locals in the area through his research and has held meetings with Dublin City Council. 

“[Dublin City Council’s] interest is in capital, not in the longevity of the community,” he said.

“This concrete has no social capital to it – it’s just the same old concrete copy and paste.” 

McCarthy believes regeneration projects such as this one will eventually contribute to gentrification: “A city is not an amalgamation of buildings or concrete, a city is made by its people. 

“As long as we keep doing these laissez-faire regeneration projects, it’s just going to cause further alienation because we’ll have no relation to where we live – it’s all just transient space for tourism.” 

McCarthy traces the evolution of urban planning from the sanitoriums of the tuberculosis era to today’s regeneration projects: “We started to look at a living space in a medical sense, and this new regeneration plan is centred around ‘liveability’ – it’s a new health term brought in and it’s the commodification of wellbeing. 

“But there is no wellbeing being offered – there’s no community centre; there’s no green spaces.” 

McCarthy said the various Liberties areas have their own unique social fabrics: “To copy and paste from Francis Street to Meath Street without taking on the ingrained knowledge that exists in the area, is to leave it to wither and rot.”