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MARIE CULLEN MOVES back and forth behind her fruit and stall on Moore Street on a grey December afternoon.
People walk up and down the busy street. A man stops and buys a bag of oranges, a woman gets some onions. Marie smiles and bags the goods with ease and friendliness.
A third generation trader, she has been working on the stalls for over 20 years and knows her business well.
But business has never been as tough for Marie as it is now. Towering up behind her back is a large mass of black scaffolding that rises into the air and pushes out onto the street.
For nearly a year now, that scaffolding has taken up the majority of Marie’s space on the street, leaving her just about 4 foot on which to sell her goods every day.
If one person walk down the footpath they block the street entirely. The path is crowded and hectic, and most people don’t bother to stop to browse at her stall as they pass.
Hers and two other stalls have to contend with the scaffolding, but the other traders have the path to themselves.
Most people will stop to buy goods away from the scaffolding to avoid being jostled or having their foot run over by a trolley or a pram.
“I’m at my wits’ end. We’re coming up to Christmas which is a very busy time for us, no one can get by, it’s the width of a pallet,” says Marie.
It’s an absolute nightmare to work here.
Scaffolding
We first spoke to Marie in July of this year, seven months after the scaffolding went up.
She was angry and frustrated then, and felt that the Moore Street traders had been forgotten about in the the debate over the future of the area.
The scaffolding behind Marie was erected on 6 January to facilitate building works on Nos 14-17 Moore Street – the site of the 1916 Irish rebels’ surrender to the British Army and a designated National Monument.
The Irish government had recently acquired ownership of the monument, and had plans to convert the old, run down buildings into a commemoration centre in time for the Easter Rising centenary celebrations in March.
The construction of the planned centre would have interfered with other buildings on the street, long designated as not historically important by the government.
However, protesters from a series of groups under the blanket of Save Moore Street disagreed. A large contingent of people occupied the National Monument in January in protest, refusing to allow the works to go ahead.
They lodged a legal challenge against the proposed government works. In March, the group scored a key victory when the High Court ruled that the entire Moore Street area should be designated as a battlefield site, meaning that the planned development could not go ahead.
But the scaffolding still didn’t come down. The government announced in June that it had lodged an appeal with the High Court, arguing that the ruling was incorrect. That appeal is due to be heard in December 2017.
In July, the Department of the Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht announced that some minor works would be carried out on Nos 14-17, after which the scaffolding would come down.
The traders
Margaret Larkin has also had a very difficult year. She says her business is down 40% since the scaffolding went up.
Every day, she has to contend with trolleys and prams running over her feet and pushing her against the wall.
“I stand here and they run a trolley or a pram over my feet, and say ‘Oh sorry I didn’t see you there’. It’s unbelievable,” she says.
The traders have long been called the heart of Moore Street, with council officials as well as Save Moore Street activists and opposition TDs saying they are an integral part of the area.
“The traders are the heart and the soul of the street – they are part of heritage and culture and the interest in the area,” Peadar Tóibín, Sinn Féin spokesperson on regional affairs told TheJournal.ie earlier this month.
Logic would dictate that we care for them in any plan going forward.
Despite this, the Moore Street traders have to fight regularly for their existence.
A quick look through the Irish Newspaper Archives will turn up a number of incidents throughout the years where traders have been faced with increased council levies, plans to withdraw their license and other measures.
There are no public toilets or wash areas provided by Dublin City Council for the traders in the area. They also are given no permanent trading licenses.
Marie said she had to ask builders working on the National Monument to put up some lights recently on the scaffolding as it was too dark for her to sell and the council had provided no street lights.
“They did it, in fairness to them,” she says.
The future
A spokesperson for the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht said that the works being carried out on Nos 14-17 were in order to “preserve and protect” the buildings.
The spokesperson said that the work was “progressing satisfactorily” and was expected to be completed by January, when the scaffolding would be taken down.
While the pavement space taken up by the scaffolding and protective hoarding has been kept to a minimum, [the minister has sought] the cooperation of the traders and has assured them that every effort is being made to bring this element of the works to an end as speedily as possible.
Tóibín says that the rights of the traders have been ignored throughout the entire Moore Street saga, and that the council and the department needed to address their concerns.
“With regards the scaffolding that needs to come down asap and toilets put into the streets,” he says.
For Marie, she has to contend with the scaffolding while the Christmas rush takes over Dublin city, and hope that the building works will be completed soon, so her life can return to some form of normality next year.
You just feel like no one cares one bit about us – and that’s just it.
Busines models change with time. Digital has killed physical video. Cars have killed horse travel. Unfortunately no one owes Moore st venders a living and they are practicing a dying trade.
@Seth Cheffetz: With the increases in commercial rents street trading will look mighty appealing again pretty soon. I’d like to see more of it, rather than less of it.
I love street trading. It’s a highlight for me when visiting other countries. What’s on offer on Moore Street leaves a lot to be desired and it’s pretty hard to compete when a Lidl and excellent foreign grocers are right behind you and an Aldi around the corner.
Wholeheartedly agree with Seth
and video killed the radio star
You can’t get the smuggled tobacco in Aldi though
Living in Aleppo that’s a nightmare. Not having to work close to some scaffolding.
Must be at least 10 stalls all selling the same produce that I can get in local lidl. Sorry but we don’t owe these traders a living. I walk down Moore street daily, the scaffolding does not block the other 3 sides of her stall.
Why do all their stalls face onto the path anyway? Of course people trying to get to a shop on the paths aren’t stopping to browse. They want their phone unlocked or a haircut. If it’s a market, turn them the other way around and have a market. The way farmers markets are laid out. Henry Street Christmas stalls are open on both sides and you can get past them easily or stop and browse.
Do we care? Not really. Working on Henry St often advised tourists to avoid moore st or at least keep on everything.
Saying that the butcher there is great.
It would be great to see a large covered market in Dublin.Something similar to the Barcelona style markets.Could be great for tourism and locals alike.
@John Killeen: What is this obsession with tourists? How likely is it either that tourists would be hanging around Moore Street or that they’d be buying a bag of oranges?
@John Killeen: there are supposed to be doing that nearer Smithfield
Flogging Moore st as a tourist attraction is embarrassing. People expect a market like you’d see in France or Italy. It never was like that. Put it indoors in the Iveagh market and sell decent produce. Moored st is dead
Why not put it into the park beside the Jervis Centre? They’ve kept that empty for years.
Quick somebody call Agnes Brown!
Bill cullen go ape$hit over this
But he couldn’t spend a penny there any more..
@Jimmy Carter:
This stuff appeared on Moore street this Easter 2016 on the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising
http://www.thephora.net/forum/showthread.php?t=109717
Yup.. That’s right Seth. A dying trade you say. Cars have taken over horses. Others saying that theres no money to be made in it. Suppose to be 5 instead of 4 apples. How wrong some of you have it. The ladies and gents of The Moore St. Stalls are all genuine hardworking people. They do be up at the crack of dawn, sourcing their produce. From the fruit markets to the rear of Caple St. Then up until only 2003 or 2004 they would have it delivered by horse and cart ( Stevo ). The authenticity of it. A cart filled yay high with fresh fruit and veg comming down the cobbles of Moore St. Tho that part has been retired to history, the ladies and gents keep the rest of it going. The likes of Marie. A beautiful lady. Kind , funny and her Dublin wit. These people work hard for their bread and butter and keep our history alive. People love it on Moore St. They obviously do a good job if their still going through recessions and other hurdles put before them. Rather than comment negatively about the Moore St. traders. Go down some day. You wouldn’t have to purchase anything to strike up a conversation. Perhaps next time you may comment in a different light. I personally hope that they are still there so that I can walk my grandkids down a slice of pure Dublin working history.
I pass by there all the time. They may be hard working but that does not change the fact they all sell the same produce of inferior quality that you can easily hey elsewhere. Nothing they sell appeals to tourists or most locals.
@Seth Cheffetz: Somebody must be buying it if they’re all still in business.
Yet as your fountain of knowledge has already told us that with Lidl, Aldi and the likes selling cheaper and better quality produce that their produce doesn’t appeal to tourists or most locals. Thats why they’re still there. So somebody has to be purchasing. Long may the Traders keep trading..
Hey, Viking – am laughing at your advice that don’t have to buy anything to strike up a conversation. I’m sure that the traders would love that – if they never sold a thing and instead had to spend all day yapping.
God I used to love walking down Moor Street it was the heart of town, all the girls on the stalls always had a story to tell you, always had a laugh and always said good morning even when they were frozen to the bone. One of the stalls that was outside the doors of the ilac sold fish and by God did I suffer when I had to walk past it with a hangover lol
Great comment @Linda Hughes. Thats what I would prefer to be reading on this article. Genuine people’s memories past & present of Moore St. Rather than the Bah Humbugs who have probably never even walked from one end to the other.
Viking, Come down off your high horse there matey. As unfortunate as it is, things change, people change and life changes. Its a fact that you get most fruit and veg now in aldi cheaper and more consistently better than from these traders.. Its unfortunate but their time is up..
“If one person walk down the footpath”……
Although trade has a life cycle like any other business and with online shopping becoming more and more appealing, I still think there is room for street trading. Butttttttttt there needs to be an investment put into the street. Development it into a purposeful trading location. Otherwise it will simply die out like many other industries/trades. Innovate to accumulate.
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