Row Over McDonalds' Temple Bar Plans

As the Temple Bar area of Dublin city center celebrates its 20th birthday, a row has broken out over plans to open a McDonalds' fast food restaurant in its heart.

McDonalds Ireland has lodged a planning application with Dublin City Council to open a new branch at Temple Bar Square.

The building in question previously housed two upmarket restaurants - Fitzers and more recently, Frankie's Steakhouse, operated by jockey Frankie Detorri and celebrity chef Marco Pierre White.

The building is a protected structure, and McDonalds plan to refurbish its three floors, including with images of "street art" and "grunge".

The application says: "The development will also consist of external works including the relocation of the public access doorway on Fownes Street to the former goods entrance on Fownes Street; the conversion of the existing public access doorway to a window; the provision of new glazing and frames at ground floor level; removal of existing external lighting and provision of new lighting; removal of existing signage and provision of new signage."

McDonalds, which owns 77 restaurants around Ireland but has never tried to open in the area before, says the new outlet would create 60 jobs.

But some members of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust said the fast food chain would be "an undesirable development for the area."

Chief Executive Dermot McLaughlin said "Temple Bar was absolutely not designed with McDonalds or other big franchises in mind."

The trust is believed to be preparing an objection, although some other members of the board have publicly distanced themselves from McLaughlin's statement.

Martin Harte, managing director of Temple Bar Traders, another body promoting the area, said he would be scrutinizing McDonalds' application and considering his options.

The objections to McDonalds have raised eyebrows from some commentators.

Although originally conceived as an art and cultural district, Temple Bar has become, over the years, a tourist trap filled with overpriced bars and stag/hen parties.

The south inner city area's redevelopment began in 1991 with the passing of the Temple Bar Renewal and Development Act.

During the 1980s, Charles Haughey's government planned to build a massive bus station in the area.

While the planning process was held up due to objections, properties in the area were rented out for cheap, attracting artists, small shops and galleries to the area.

When the bus project fell to objections, the area was designated a "cultural quarter".

The area is home to dozens of art and cultural institutions including the Irish Photography Center, the Ark Children's Cultural Centre, the Irish Film Institute, Project Arts Center and others, as well as markets and food fairs.

It's also a major center for nightlife, with dozens of bars primarily aimed at tourists. Whether a McDonalds belongs there or not will now be a matter for planners.