Dublin City Council considers banning cars from two city centre streets on trial basis
Proposals to pedestrianise two streets in Dublin on a trial basis have received mixed responses.
Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan, who is backing proposals to trial banning cars from South William Street and Drury Street, believes congestion and pollution is now a public health issue: "We have seen a number of reports come from the EPA where we have serious issues around air pollution now."
Hourigan continued: "We have very high levels of nitrogen dioxide. We know we have some of the highest rates of asthma in the world.
"So it's really a public health issue you know rather than something that is just recreational.
"So I think its beyond time that we start to carve out certain areas in the city that are for civic use."
Chairman of the Irish Parking Association, Keith Gavin, however, is strongly against the idea: "It's just the latest in a long line of anti-motorist traffic restrictions in the city centre."
"To my mind, it's just the classic case of the cart before the horse."
"Dublin is a city that is very badly served by public transport".
Dublin City Council says it doesn't have any definite timeline for the proposal and says there's no date for when it could happen.
