‘Crazy’: Why would people object to public toilets in Dublin city?

Just one toilet facility has been provided under a Dublin City Council plan announced more than a year ago to roll out public toilets across the city.

The council in April 2021 sought bids to provide permanent toilets along with cafe or retail kiosks on council-owned sites. Tenders were received in relation to six sites, considerably fewer than the council had initially hoped.

The first facility at Albert College Park beside Dublin City University opened last summer, but the remaining five sites are still unused.

The council has now decided to scrap plans for toilets at Clontarf promenade; two more facilities, in Portobello and Ringsend, are also likely to be cancelled, while the last two toilet sites beside the Iveagh Gardens in the city centre and in Drumcondra will be subject to further delays.

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The council said it examined four different locations along the seafront in Clontarf but none were suitable due to a risk of flooding, resident concerns, “proximity to similar businesses and sports clubs” and risk of disturbing Brent geese. However, local Green Party Cllr Donna Cooney said these excuses did not hold water.

“The area chosen at the old shelter near the boat slip has never been flooded and the geese don’t use it as a landing site because they like flat open areas,” she said. “The site was the required distance from other businesses, and in relation to residents, some didn’t like that there was a commercial element to it, but when it was explained that you didn’t have to buy anything to use the toilets, they were mostly on-board.”

The contract allowed operators to use council land without charge for their shop or cafe, as long as they provided and maintained toilets for free.

A council official said the toilets at Seán Moore Park in Ringsend and Wilton Terrace near Portobello were unlikely to go ahead due to the cost of providing utilities to service them, while it was hoped that toilets at Clonmel Street, beside the Iveagh Gardens, and in Griffith Park in Drumcondra would eventually go ahead when several issues, including utility costs and local objections, were resolved.

Green Party Cllr Claire Bryne, for the southeast of the city, said it was “crazy” that people would object to the provision of toilets.

“The majority of people have been crying out for toilets in the city,” she said. “The need during Covid-19 was clear, but it’s not as if that need doesn’t exist every day.”