Traders act to clean up image of Temple Bar

With the Christmas party season under way Dublin's Temple Bar is moving to rid itself of its image of excessive, sometimes inappropriate, revelry.

Traders who have banded under the acronym TASCQ - Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter - have launched a "Play Nice" campaign to encourage partygoers as well as hoteliers and pub owners to be mindful of the fact that some 3,000 people live in the inner city enclave.

The campaign wants to eliminate bad behaviour. This includes noise, particularly at night; excessive alcohol consumption; public urination and littering.

A publican's charter, to which many of the pubs in Temple Bar have signed up, provides for staff training and a co-ordinated approach to security with security personnel wearing name badges and operating on a fixed short-wave radio "open channel".

Traders will also attempt to shift the focus from drinking to cultural shows, including poetry readings. Signs indicating that toilets are for patrons use only are to be removed, with additional signs going on display telling patrons they are being monitored by video.

Dublin Bus, which at one time had plans to build a bus station in the area, said it was "delighted to be part of a new initiative".

The company said its Nitelink bus service was available for many of the people who frequent Temple Bar and it also offered a "city bus tour" in the area.

Play Nice aims to improve further the local environment "for all who live in, work or visit Temple Bar, by improving training standards in licensed premises, educating visitors on what is acceptable behaviour and by working more closely with the gardaí and the city council", said a spokeswoman.