A "Rock Against Hotels" protest against the closure of an iconic Dublin beer garden is being planned for August.
Organisers are furious that planning permission has been granted for the extension of the Holiday Inn Express on O'Connell Street. The build will mean the closure of a popular beer garden next door.
The courtyard provides outdoor seating for three well-known pubs Fibber Magee's, The Living Room and Murray's. Fibber Magee's has been an important music venue in the city for decades, seeing the likes of Aslan and the Foo Fighters take to their stage.
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The "Rock Against Hotels" protest will take place in the Ambassador Hotel on Thursday, 11 August. There will be a march to An Bord Pleanala, a live band, and speakers on the importance of protecting Irish art and culture.
The developer had originally sought approval for a seven-storey extension, but that application was refused following concerns among council officials around loss of daylight for surrounding buildings. Instead, the Council have now approved plans for a slightly lower six-storey extension, which is designed to provide an additional 95 guest rooms.
The proposed changes involving some internal alterations will result in the total number of guest rooms increasing from 214 to 303, an increase of 89 rooms. Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty previously told Dublin Live that the closure of the beer garden is "incredibly disappointing".
He said: "This is one of the only beer garden spaces in the inner city and there are three distinct pubs in the area Fibber Magee's, The Living Room, and Murray's. It's just incredibly disappointing to see more hotels being catered for, I think people are sick of hotels.
"So many venues in the last five years have been closed because of new hotels, it's just hotel after hotel."
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