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THE LED ‘PANTIBAR’ sign on the popular Dublin gay bar may have to be removed after Dublin City Council (DCC) rejected an application to keep it up.
An application for the retention of the sign was refused by DCC for a number of reasons including that it would “impact adversely on the character and integrity of the area”.
The 3.5m long sign was erected above the Capel Street bar last year but has been the subject of a number of planning objections.
On foot of the objections, bar owners Rory O’Neill and Jonathan Bourke made an application to retain the sign but this has now been refused.
In a Facebook post this evening, Panti Bliss said:
I will be appealing this neanderthal decision, and fighting it tooth and acrylic nail.
She added:
There is nothing cheap or thoughtless about any of Pantibar’s visual communication. I love good design, I love Capel Street. I love Dublin (and wish it weren’t blighted by cheap signage that adds nothing to the cityscape). And I fucking LOVE our beautiful sign.
Under planning rules for the area, signs that project outwards are not permitted except in “exceptional circumstances”.
Designers acting on behalf of the applicants argued that this was indeed an exceptional case, adding that the bar had “international recognition”.
“The sign is not merely a pub sign but a sign which reflects the artistic endeavours and extraordinary activities of the unique entertainment provided on the premises,” architecture firm Piece Tynan said in a submission to DCC.
It is a logo of international recognition which does not advertise a pub but a lifestyle of huge significance and importance to the city and indeed the country.
Pierce Tynan also argued that Pantibar is “considered a place of cultural, social and artistic merit” and therefore deserves planning protection.
Objections
Documents published by DCC show at least three separate objections to the sign.
Local resident Kenneth O’Reilly described the sign as “unsightly” and as being ”extraordinarily obvious when lit at night”.
He added that:
This is actually magnified when it rains, thus creating further multiple neon reflections upon the wet roads.
Neon signs are not allowed by the council in the city centre and O’Neill has previously pointed out that the sign in question is not neon but is “a traditional backlit sign”.
In another objection to the sign, Pat Coyne claimed that the application was an example of people “using the planning code to generate cheap publicity”.
The landlord who owns the building housing the bar has consented to the sign, but another apartment owner says that the sign is actually attached to their building and that they object to it.
Brendan Hade says the sign is actually attached to his building with an address at Jervis Place, not Capel Street.
The DCC did not make reference to that dispute in its decision but said it came to the conclusion because of the sign’s,
projecting nature, size and scale in conjunction with its location above street level and its use of inappropriate materials.
“(The) lighting would impact adversely on the character and integrity of the area, significantly detract from the visual amenities of the area and set an undesirable precedent for similar development in this area,” the council’s decision read.
The applicants have four weeks to lodge an appeal with An Bord Pleanála.
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Yeah like the Americans destroyed their stockpile, does anyone really belive that?
@Jimmyjoe Wallace:
They haven’t, at least not all of it. The US still has over 500 tonnes of chemical weapons that are scheduled to be destroyed in the coming years.
The US and Russia came to an agreement regarding the destruction of Cold War era chemical weapons and both countries have destroyed over 90% of their stockpiles. If either country wasn’t fulfilling it’s promises regarding the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles we’d know about it.
I love the hypocrisy of some people
Not a mention of the Russians who had and may still have the biggest chemical and biological stockpile in history
It’s only bad when the US does it, for some people
@Jason Culligan – How would we know either party wasn’t fulfilling it’s it’s promises RE: destruction of chemical weapons?? Who oversee’s and ensures it has been carried out on both sides??
Well, this advertising feature has certainly worked on me! Where can I buy this stuff?
I can’t believe a communist leader would do such a thing. surely communist good capitalist bad. as the aaa/pbp
@Patrick Gough: Yes Patrick. This horrific inhuman chemical was created by communists as the article clearly states :P
@Eoghan Holland:
A quick google search shows that the USSR also produced weaponised VX. They may not have invented it, but they did make it.
@Jason Culligan: Fair point Jason. Not going to argue with you on it :) – It was just a little irresistible as Patrick here somehow has transformed his dislike of a political party into a moot point and i just thought it would be fun to counter it. I wouldn’t advocate north korean policies or assign myself to any political force, just thought i’d see how the straw man faired with a wee flame…
Actually look closely at AAAPBP economic policies it mentions ‘direct allocation’ of goods by the state as a future goal
Something the NKs are meant to have (hasn’t worked) and their lit is filled with references to a planned economy
Would that be the same family of organophosphate That was used in sheep dip and plug in air fresheners not so long ago
@Peter Hargan: It was Kim’s farts in a cloth?
15 years of the war with terrorism, but not with Kim. No oil in NK.
Guinness farts are toxic too.
You’d know…cooney…
So herewith evidence that NoKo has WMD. Will the imminent US invasion be televised?
’10 times more powerful as…’ not ’10 times as powerful as’.
If the two girls accused had the nerve gas on their hands and rubbed it in his face, how are they still alive
One of them was vomiting and I’ll after the attack so it is suspected she may have been in touch with a tiny amount. It appears from the CCTV footage that they rubbed his face with cloths. If only one side of the cloth was contaminated it would have lessened the risk to them.
Because the dose makes the poison
There’s cyanide in apples but not in a high enough dose to kill you
If you took 4 solphadene tablets at once now you’d not die but if we’re taking 100 at once you’d get toxic levels of paracetamol for some people.
Just like radiation (we encounter it every day) it’s a matter of how much
China is suspected of supplying deadly toxic to North Korea….
@Thosj Carroll: For coal???
@Thosj Carroll: And the US supplied nukes to Israel……
Weapons of mass destruction! Means the Americans have a reason to go in now just like Iraq
Jeez! Arnt you all SO INFORMED!!!!
His wee mad brother, might be something to cause heart attacks. GMO’s like a virus that will only kill certain people with certain genetic markers, what a thought?
have your say