Henry Street To Go - Where Next?

The Dublin that I grew up in is fast disappearing. Many fine buildings have been demolished and replaced by horrendous looking office blocks and grey concrete slab apartments both of which in no form or fashion blend in with the surrounding structures and only serve to bring an atmosphere of gloom to the area. What are the people in power doing when these plans are being drawn up? Oh, of course, they're rushing off to their banks to lodge the vast amounts of money they're receiving as bribes from the developers to allow the construction of these eye sores. Don't the Georgian Society and Irish Heritage people have any say in the matter? Seemingly not.

Now we are to lose some of Dublin's most beloved streets, Henry Street and it's surrounding shopping areas all of which are to become part of the Northern Quarter. What is going to happen to Arnotts, will it retain its outer facade or will that too be bulldozed?I consider myself very lucky to have lived my childhood and adolescence in a Dublin that was safe to walk the streets day or night. Where every Saturday morning I would be taken by my mother to Moore Street whereupon she would buy her apples and oranges from one of the many great characters selling their fruits with loud choruses of "sixpense a dozen d'oranges" or was that "a shillin' a dozen d'oranges", I'm not sure, I didn't have to worry about finances in those days!

Christmas in Henry Street was my favourite. By 4.00pm it would be dark so between the magnificant star shaped Christmas overhead lights and Arnotts brightly coloured window display I was in a winter wonderland. All along the street the "dealers" as they were affectionately known, manned their stalls that were laden with coloured tinsel, balloons of all shapes and sizes, "Cheeky Charlies" (a wind-up toy) and of course Starlights. For me, the latter two stand out above the others simply because of the repetitive shrill cries of the dealer calling out "get d'lasta yur Cheeky Charlies" and "sixpence each d'Starlights.

If anyone knows of a petition objecting to this deplorable decision to further ruin our city, please let me know. I've enquired but got nowhere.

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