A walk through New Street, Malahide on a sunny Sunday shows the strip buzzing with diners and shoppers.
The street which is home to many bars, restaurants and boutiques, was recently pedestrianised in a move that divided the village.
But the video taken today and posted to Twitter by Dave Storey shows a thriving hub of activity that would rival any European restaurant strip.
New Street looks great today, lots of people enjoying the space pic.twitter.com/4fcqbhWKnP
— Dave storey (@davestorey18) September 13, 2020
Back in June, New Street was declared vehicle-free as part of a ten-week trial in Fingal County Council’s ‘Walk Bike Fingal’ scheme.
The initiative seeks to facilitate new social distancing guidelines and allows businesses to expand their operations on to the street.
While the move has been backed by Malahide Chamber of Commerce, Malahide Community Forum and Malahide Tidy Towns, some members of the community branded it ‘a mistake’.
‘Save Malahide Village’ campaigners have said that the change has resulted in a loss of business on the street as well as public order incidents.
Campaigners have said that they are not completely against the initiative but would have preferred deeper consultation on the implementation.
Chairperson of Malahide Tidy Towns counters that the traffic-free street ‘breathes new life back into the heart of the village’.
Cllr McDonagh, who chairs the Howth-Malahide Area Committee and supports pedestrianisation, added: “It would be great if people who support the pedestrianisation were to support business in the area and make those views known.”
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Lead image via Shutterstock/Aerial view of Malahide Village, Dublin
