DUBLIN’S PARLIAMENT STREET is set to go traffic-free each weekend over July and August.

Dublin City Council (DCC) said there will be a “particular focus on encouraging families onto the street”. 

Every Saturday and Sunday from 1 July until late August, Parliament Street will be traffic-free from 11am to 11pm.

Traffic-free trials took place on Parliament St last summer on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6.30pm to 11pm.

In a statement, DCC said feedback from last year’s trials and others conducted in 2021 found that people wanted “more family friendly times”.

As a result, a DCC spokesperson said a “decision was made a number of months ago to start this year’s measures from 11am and run them over the weekend”. 

Once the traffic-free measures are in place, deliveries can be made on the street up until 11am and Essex Quay and Essex Street will remain open. 

Emergency services will also be able to access all locations on Parliament Street at all times.

The DCC spokesperson added that permanent changes to Parliament Street are “currently being finalised as part of the City Centre Transport Study”.

A draft of this will be published for public consultation in August or September. 

Capel Street, which is the adjoining street across the River Liffey, went traffic-free in May of last year and this move was made permanent last November.

Parliament Street has been the site of much upset this week, after a bike rake was installed outside the popular LGBTQ bar Street 66.

The bar had applied for a street furniture license but was denied.

On Monday, staff arrived at the bar to find that the loading bay at the front of the premises, which previously also served as an outdoor seating area, was taken over by a bike rack.

An online petition by Street 66 to remove the bike rack and re-install the outdoor area has garnered over 5,300 signatures.