The Dublin City Taskforce was established by Government in May 2024 to take a holistic view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin City Centre, north and south. David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, acted as the Independent Chair and membership of the Taskforce was represented by key agencies working in the city centre in public service, community health, business and union, arts, culture and tourism as well as private sector representatives in the fields of architecture, urbanism and design. The Taskforce was mandated to take an evidence-informed approach in its work and to provide recommendations to improve the City Centre’s public realm, safety, and experience. The goal is to make Dublin City Centre a more thriving, attractive, and safe cityscape; and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit.

Context: Though there is much to be positive about Dublin, the function of the city centre has profoundly altered, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Fewer people traveling to work in offices daily, a shift in shopping and socialising patterns and concerns that the streets are not safe have contributed to a growing reluctance to engage in city centre activities and a significant drop in footfall. As fewer people have cause or desire to walk the city’s streets, particularly after business hours, the resulting lack of activity adds to the sense of emptiness and neglect and emboldens anti-social behaviour and visible drug taking. This further reinforces the perception that the streets are unsafe and leads to a vicious circle of declining footfall and rising insecurity. To address these issues, the Taskforce aligned behind three common missions:

• More people living in the city centre
• Streets that look cleaner and feel safer
• A healthy, vibrant, always-on city that respects its heritage