DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL (DCC) has announced that work on pedestrianising several streets in Dublin to facilitate outdoor dining has begun.

Four streets will either be traffic-free or sections of them will be made traffic-free after 11am each day.

These are:

• Anne Street South from the junction of Dawson Street
• South William Street from Exchequer Street to the Brown Thomas carpark exit
• Drury Street from just after its junction with Fade Street to the Drury Street underground carpark
• Dame Court From Exchequer Street

It comes after trials to pedestrianise several streets in Dublin city were carried out in July and August of last year, with trials being extended due to the positive feedback.

Online surveys carried out by Dublin City Council found that 95% of the 1,588 respondents were in favour of having the selected streets permanently pedestrianised.

Consultation for fully pedestrianising the streets was carried out last November, with DCC planning on introducing the measure in January. However, this was put on hold due to the Level 5 lockdown measures introduced in late December.

With a further easing of restrictions scheduled for early July, DCC are currently examining the possibility of increasing pedestrianisation of other areas of the city to increase outdoor dining capacity.