Posted: August 12 2008

Publicans and restaurateurs in Cork City have been accused of flagrantly breaching the regulations in regard to ‘street furniture’, the placing of tables and chairs outside pubs and restaurants.

Cork’s City Manager Joe Gavin has claimed that strict guidelines laid  down to ensure that footpaths remain safe and are not blocked have been abused by the licensees.

A minimum of 1.8 metres of footpath clearance must be kept clear in front of a premises. On pedestrianised streets a three metre wide space is required to facilitate visually-impaired people and those using wheelchairs.

For a fee of €600 per year, licensees are entitled to a maximum of 25 square metres of seated area surrounded by a removable barrier. Each additional square metre of permitted space costs €65.

However some licensees have been accused of ‘unauthorised incursions’ with outdoor tables and chairs onto the public footpaths. In some cases publicans are ‘taking over’ parts of the public road for seating and for queuing, according to Councillor Dan Wallace.

He’d asked Joe Gavin some weeks ago whether he thought this was an appropriate use of public space to which the City Manager had agreed that it was not.

Joe Galvin has now promised action up to and including legal action, if necessary, under Section 71 of the 1993 Roads Act which could mean publicans being fined up to €1,270 or getting six months in prison.