Plans to install public toilets at Clontarf Promenade shelved

Plans to install public toilets at the Clontarf Promenade have been shelved, says Dublin City Council.

The 2.5km long seafront was one of six locations identified in 2021 as a possible site for permanent public bathrooms.

However, the promenade is one of two locations that will not see restrooms installed following a decision from Dublin City Council.

In a statement sent to councillors, a spokesperson for the council said the initial demand for the toilets arose during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Following a public tender in early 2021, six possible locations were identified for the installation of cafe units with associated public toilets,” it said.

“This was a measure brought forward during the Covid-19 pandemic and specifically in circumstances where access to use toilet facilities in pubs, cafes etc. were severely limited or indeed not possible.

“Of the six identified locations, to date, one has been successfully installed in Albert College Park, two others are progressing and issues are being addressed (Griffith Park, Drumcondra and Clonmel Street, Dublin 2.”

The council says that bathroom will not be installed on the Clontarf Promenade due to local objections.

“Currently, there are publicly accessible toilets in the Clontarf vicinity at Bull Wall, Dollymount and at the Clontarf Road sports pitches.

“Regrettably, local objections curtailed plans to put a unit into Clontarf Promenade and there are no plans at the present time to look at Clontarf again,” the council says.

“However, the Director of Services and local Area Manager, will look into the issue in more detail, regarding the feasibility of such a provision in the future.”

Independent councillor for the area Damian O’Farrell said that the objections were filed against proposal for the coffee kiosk, not the public bathrooms.

“DCC have incorrectly blamed local objections for curtailing their plans for toilet provision when this is not the case at all,” O’Farrell says.

“There were never any plans by DCC to put toilets into Clontarf despite the requests of local councillors certainly since the beginning of Covid.

“There were plans by DCC to put a coffee kiosk onto the promenade.

“There were objections to that plan because the locations proposed did not comply with the tender conditions and the toilets would only be available during opening hours,” he said.

“Other Dublin local authorities managed to put toilets into public spaces without coffee kiosks.

“Against the wishes of several councillors DCC chose not to go down a standalone toilet route and this is where the problem lies,” O’Farrell says.

“A toilet similar to that at the Happy Out Café [on the North Bull Wall] is all that was required and a location on the Promenade could have easily been agreed.”

O’Farrell says that the lack of a toilet on the promenade, “prevents many people from enjoying the coastal walk.”

“It’s totally unacceptable that there are no plans at the present time by DCC to provide stand alone public toilets along Clontarf Promenade.”

The council said that it is “continuing to explore options for the provision of public toilets across the city, particularly in the city centre core.”