Fianna Fáil Senator in Dublin Central, Mary Fitzpatrick, has expressed concern over the failure by Dublin City Council to re-open the Dublin 7 Fruit & Vegetable Market and has called on the relevant Minister to intervene in order to secure its early re-opening.
Senator Fitzpatrick said, "The former wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market at St Mary’s Lane is a unique, historical, purpose built, Victorian, market building in the heart of our capital city and a vibrant and diverse inner-city community.
"The recognition of its value and potential was made clear when my party colleague and Minister for Local Government, Darragh O'Brien, included it in the €121million Urban Regeneration Development Fund approved for the North Inner City in March 2021."
In a recent letter to Minister O'Brien, Senator Fitzpatrick drew the Ministers attention to the fact that despite approval of urban regeneration funding, Dublin City Council has made no visible progress re-opening the market building and recently advised an indicative timeline of approximately two more years before the market will be reopened.
"Dublin City Council has had planning permission since 2015 to redevelop the market and the building is vacant now more than three years.
"The Dublin 7 Fruit & Vegetable market has massive potential not just as a food market to serve the 10s of 1,000s of inner-city residents and businesses but also as a cultural space, visitor attraction and catalyst for regeneration. It is a crying shame and incredible missed opportunity that this building is lying vacant and unused, '' concluded Senator Fitzpatrick.
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