NEARLY 20,000 PEOPLE have signed a petition aimed at saving the outside beer garden and Big Blue Bus section of Dublin bar The Bernard Shaw after a recent decision from An Bord Pleanála to deny the pub permission to continue operating the area.

The online petition on change.org was set up last week, when TheJournal.ie reported the successful appeal made by residents in the area, who claimed the noise levels from the pub were unacceptable.

Trevor O’Shea – CEO of Bodytonic who runs the pub – said that a renewed application would be made to continue operating the outside area, adding “we’ve been down this road for years”. 

In its original planning application to Dublin City Council, the Bernard Shaw said there is a “brewing unease and scepticism” at how “once-lauded cultural institutions are being replaced by hotels and short-term accommodation”.

“The Bernard Shaw stands to continue as an attractive destination, thriving business, and cultural touchstone in the fabric of the city’s current recovery,” it said.

For the near-term this success is depending on the operation of its beer garden, open air dining area and the big blue bus.

In objections lodged to the council by nearby residents, the noise levels from the pub were criticised.

One wrote: “It is unfair that we cannot protect ourselves against the level of noise and music coming from this venue. I cannot enjoy the back garden at all with the loud thumping. This is no life for a cancer survivor trying to live without stress. Please put the music back inside and let me enjoy living on this street.”

Another said that the venue has a weekly calendar of events and claimed it “effectively operates as an open-air live music venue”.

Petition

The Dublin bar has been a popular venue for well over a decade but, as indicated in its planning application, it relies on the outside area and big blue bus to help draw in the crowds.

The creator of the petition said the Bernard Shaw is a “cultural institution” and that the venue’s contribution to the “vibrancy of the city” is met by few others.

“It is one of the most unique spaces we have in our city, which actively supports and encourages the cultural growth Dublin so desperately needs,” the petition said.

Please sign and show An Bord Pleanála how important this space is and that taking it away would be drastically harmful to Dublin’s development as an attractive and vibrant cultural hub.

The current aim of the petition is to reach 25,000 signatures.