Council urges Ministers to save Bewley's

Dublin City Council has urged the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, to establish a national trust to protect threatened heritage buildings like Bewley's Oriental Cafes.

A motion passed by the council last night also called on Mr Roche and the Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen, to examine "as a matter of urgency" their existing powers so as to ensure the immediate preservation of the cafés, which closed last week after 120 years.

The Lord Mayor, Mr Michael Conaghan (Lab), who proposed the motion, bemoaned the absence of a national trust, saying it was the norm in cities throughout Europe to protect landmark buildings which were characteristic of those cities. Members of the campaign to save the Bewley's cafés were in the public gallery to hear the debate, during which several councillors criticised the management of Bewley's for allowing the outlets to close.

Cllr Eric Byrne (Lab) said the company had in recent years moved away from the "wonderful ethos" of Victor Bewley. Long queues at the cafés meant that by the time you reached the cash register "your fry was swimming in solid grease", he said.

But Cllr Tom Stafford (FF) said the closures had much to do with stringent health and safety regulations in the city that "do not allow for old buildings." He added he was familiar with the café business and "there was no value for money in Bewley's over the last five to seven years". A proposed amendment to the motion, proposed by Cllr Bill Tormey (FG), calling on the council to purchase Bewley's, and preserve it as a "national heritage centre", was rejected.

The council also agreed to invite the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to address the chamber in January on the Lord Mayor's Commission on Crime and Policing.