What’s on the table
While restoration work continues on the Victorian market building itself, Dublin City Council has put a plan for the surrounding streets out to consultation. The Dublin Inquirer has summarised what’s in it:
- Mary Street Little would be pedestrian-only after 11am, giving a car-free walk from the market to Capel Street.
- Two new small plazas: one at St Mary’s Abbey, outside the building that used to house the Complex, with trees and seating, and one at Mary’s Lane.
- Parks: a revamp of St Michan’s Park, bringing it closer to its original design, and of Ormond Square.
- Greek Street would go down to one traffic lane, making room for wider footpaths and planting.
- Cuckoo Lane would be paved where it’s currently tarmac, with cars limited to local access.
- Trees, greenery, wider footpaths and better lighting on Chancery Street, Charles Street North and elsewhere. Works on Halston Street, Green Street and Little Britain Street would need planning permission.
The market itself
A July 2026 report to the Dublin City Taskforce says the council is now focused on finding an operator for the market, and expects shell and core works to be finished in July 2027.
Councillors aren’t convinced it goes far enough
Social Democrats councillor Ellen O’Doherty told the Dublin Inquirer it was “a golden opportunity”, but added: “The plan is definitely not ambitious; I don’t think it’s going to blow anyone’s socks off.” She said she hoped it would be “the floor, not the ceiling”.
Green Party councillor Janet Horner called the plan disappointing and mostly planting. She wants the council’s surface car park on St Michan’s Street turned into a recreational space. “That place is crying out to be a sports pitch or a park,” she said.
Have your say
Read the draft plan and fill in the survey on the council’s consultation page: https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/the-markets-area-public-realm-plan-2026. You can also post a submission marked ‘Markets Area Public Consultation’ to the Planning Department, Block 4, Floor 3, Civic Offices, Dublin 8, or go to a drop-in session at the MACRO Centre on Green Street (4pm to 8pm). The council is also holding an online information webinar on 30 October.
Deadline: The survey on the consultation page closes on Friday 6 November 2026 at 6.59pm. The council’s general consultations list still gives 31 October, so if you want to be safe, get your submission in by then.
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