TEMPLE BAR REBRAND:ROWDY STAGS and hens are to be replaced by children and grandparents in a new plan to rebrand Temple Bar. The Dublin cultural quarter's programme of events for 2009 has been designed to appeal to families and the over-55s, says Dermot McLaughlin, CEO of Temple Bar Cultural Trust.
This year’s schedule of hundreds of free events will include a chocolate festival, the creation of a wild-flower meadow in Meeting House Square, and Handel and circus festivals, as well as the continuation of the design, food and book markets.
Temple Bar had built up an unfortunate reputation as the home of Europe’s most exciting pub crawl, McLaughlin admits. “We can’t undo the past, but stags and hens aren’t coming to Temple Bar any more. Ireland is perceived as too expensive now, and they are going elsewhere.” Now you can hardly move for the buggies, he says.
Making eating in Temple Bar affordable for families is at the top of his priority list, and he wants to see more restaurants offering food at prices similar to those at the Thai, Chinese and other restaurants across the Liffey on Parnell Street. “We know people deserve a better deal,” he says.
Two-thirds of visitors to Temple Bar are Dubliners, the area was judged the cleanest part of central Dublin by Tidy Towns and it has the city’s lowest crime rate, he adds. “Good behaviour has replaced the bad.”
For a programme, see www.templebar.ie or call 01-8883610; see also Go Kids, right