{"id":476650,"date":"2026-05-09T17:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T17:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/476650\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T17:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T17:23:11","slug":"stop-this-horror-protesters-pledge-to-fight-tooth-and-nail-for-stephens-green-shopping-centre-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/476650\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Stop this horror\u2019: Protesters pledge to fight \u2018tooth and nail\u2019 for Stephen\u2019s Green Shopping Centre \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOh jeez, really?\u201d says George Villalobos after seeing an image of the planned redevelopment of Stephen\u2019s Green<\/a> Shopping Centre.<\/p>\n

He came for one final glance of the building on his last day of a week-long trip to Dublin when he saw protesters handing out pamphlets on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s one of the most beautiful shopping centres I\u2019ve ever seen. I sent so many pictures of it to my wife,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Describing the facade of the building as \u201creally pretty and historic-looking\u201d, he goes further to say the interior \u201cis wow\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed, because the picture you showed me, there\u2019s a lot of that. There\u2019s not a lot of this,\u201d he says, pointing to the nearly 40-year-old structure.<\/p>\n

At its peak, Saturday\u2019s protest organised by the Save Stephens Green campaign group attracted about 200 people, one of whom carried a placard reading: \u201cStop this horror\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn artist’s impression of the proposed new building. Illustration: Visual Labs <\/p>\n

Another read: \u201cAll business and no play makes Dublin a dull city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protesters said they would \u201cfight tooth and nail\u201d to prevent the redevelopment.<\/p>\n

Stephen Murphy, a 32-year-old from Killester in Dublin, believes the shopping centre is \u201cperfect the way it is\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although it might need \u201cdoing up a bit\u201d, he says the new design is \u201ccompletely bland\u201d.<\/p>\n

He describes Dublin City Council\u2019s granting of planning permission to owner DTDL Ltd last month as \u201cdisgraceful\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just trying to destroy the unique beauty of our city and it\u2019s just shameful,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

While protest organisers say the \u201ciconic\u201d shopping centre is \u201cnot perfect\u201d, the new plans erase \u201call traces of its identity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Others, however, have a different view.<\/p>\n

\"ProtestorsProtestors outside the shopping centre on Saturday. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien
\n \"StephenStephen Murphy demonstrating outside St Stephen’s Green shoping centre on Saturday. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

Dermot O\u2019Grady, owner and curator of The Green Gallery, which has been on the top floor of the shopping centre since 1995, believes the redevelopment should proceed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going on for many, many years and they keep knocking on the door until they get it. The keyholders are suffering, the shoppers are suffering and the place has gone down slow but sure,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Given the previous unsuccessful planning application, O\u2019Grady says some business owners have been unable to secure lease renewals due to uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow they\u2019ve got the permission, and suddenly everybody is coming out of the woodwork, people who haven\u2019t been in the shopping centre in years saying they like the facade and don\u2019t want it knocked down,\u201d he says, referencing the protesters that surround him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s stopping things, and it\u2019s stopping progress,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Describing \u201cfresh air and empty space\u201d inside, O\u2019Grady says: \u201cThat\u2019s not profit money for the owners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DermotDermot O’Grady. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

Since the plans have been approved, O\u2019Grady says there are \u201cqueues of retailers wanting to get in\u201d.<\/p>\n

A number of appeals have been lodged with An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la, including by the Save Stephen\u2019s Green campaign group.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the entrance of the shopping centre on Saturday, group member Yusuf Alraqi urged those present to lodge further appeals, saying the campaign would \u201ccover the cost\u201d, thanks to a fundraiser that has raised more than \u20ac3,300 to date.<\/p>\n

Noting that the building is less than 40 years old, Alraqi says architecture is \u201cnot fashion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s being treated like. You can\u2019t be demolishing every building that\u2019s built in the 70s and 80s to build something that\u2019s two or three storeys higher and may be filled with offices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen\u2019s Green Shopping Centre matters because it is unique to Dublin and people are tired of seeing the city lose its identity piece by piece,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Alraqi believed protesters did not attend solely because of their love for the structure, but because they are \u201cseeing the city essentially being taken out of their hands and put into the hands of corporations\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOh jeez, really?\u201d says George Villalobos after seeing an image of the planned redevelopment of Stephen\u2019s Green Shopping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[7928,79,52,784,18,19,17,11651],"class_list":{"0":"post-476650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-an-coimisiun-pleanala","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-dublin","11":"tag-dublin-city-council","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-st-stephen-s-green"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116545782283237950","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}