What have we learnt from the gatherings at the Powerscourt Steps

Large outdoor gatherings have been symptoms of a lack of public spaces for people to meet for an outdoors drink in the nation’s capital

Outside the Powerscourt shopping centre, a short stroll from Trinity’s campus, many young people have been gathering by the steps to meet and drink. Social distancing is but a distant thought. The wide steps have long been a popular resting point for weary shoppers, but throughout the summer they have become an evening hotspot for people to relax with a few cans while alternative bars and restaurants have been closed. The questions arise: are these kinds of outdoor congregations an acceptable alternative in the absence of bars; and what does this tell us about spaces for people to pause and have a drink in Dublin’s city centre?

“Are these kinds of outdoor congregations an acceptable alternative in the absence of bars; and what does this tell us about spaces for people to pause and have a drink in Dublin’s city centre?”

The practice has been controversial. It drew significant online attention when TD for Dublin North West Paul McAuliffe tweeted a (now deleted) picture of a crowd of young people on the steps, commenting, “It doesn’t look like anyone is halfing [sic] the number of close contacts they had last week”. The image recalled the familiar scenes of the smoking area of a Harcourt street club. Most replies lamented the lack of a Garda presence and some went further to blame the group for the local lockdowns. Some responded that the demonisation of young people simply meeting for a drink seems somewhat unjust when this level of social interaction elsewhere is actively encouraged by the state. Schools have reopened, meat packing factories remain open despite outbreaks of Covid-19 and direct provision centres are still having asylum seekers congregate to eat communally. 

“Wealth imbalances have been a major problem in how people have been negatively affected by certain restrictions, and this has very much extended into how people eat and drink socially.”

Such a response does, however, oversimplify the rationality behind the Covid-19 restrictions. Schools being open undoubtedly has more benefit to the population, and the economy, if that’s a better success metric, than a bunch of students drinking Karpackie alfresco. But back when Dublin was in Level 3, restaurants and pubs were open to the patrons wanting to drink and able to afford the €9 meal with it. It was unfair that those who couldn’t afford it were not able to socialise in the same way. Such unfairness becomes heightened when those who cannot afford the additional expense of a meal anytime they want a drink are also living in cramped and isolated conditions, which is the case for many students and young people in this city. Wealth imbalances have been a major problem in how people have been negatively affected by certain restrictions, and this has very much extended into how people eat and drink socially. Large gatherings such as those as the Powerscourt Steps have emerged in response to such imbalances, and as restrictions change, we should recognise this history. 

Apart from back-alleys and street corners, there are few public spaces for people to meet and have a distanced drink together in Dublin.”

Although we may acknowledge how restriction issues have been dominated by various imbalances, the question nonetheless remains: are large crowds gathering for a social drink together safe? And the answer is, at the moment, certainly not. With that said, although we are currently in a Level 5 lockdown and any kind of gatherings will have to be extremely limited, we nonetheless cannot expect people to stay isolated indefinitely. People’s weariness towards restrictions has been exemplified not just with the crowds at the Powerscourt Steps, but also with scenes of NUIG students near Spanish Arch, and groups gathering around Grafton St on the eve of Ireland’s transition into Level 5. Pubs and bars have been shown to not just be a pleasant extra-curricular as part of society, but to play a necessary and essential role in facilitating social interactions that we have all suffered without. In their absence, we must ask what Dubliners are left with once they are allowed to have small outdoor gatherings once again. Apart from back-alleys and street corners, there are few public spaces for people to meet and have a distanced drink together in Dublin. This is especially true in the evenings; Dublin City Council closes the city’s parks at dusk. This frustrates even the idea of social distancing. If there were the opportunity not to have to be in a crowd, the scenes at the Powerscourt Steps would have been largely avoided. While smaller public gatherings are obviously still not perfect in terms of viral transmission and restriction of movements, it would be a compromise for those who are defying the restrictions, having gaffs or drinking at the steps for example, regardless of safety. Of course, at the moment only two households are allowed to meet outside for exercise, but as we progress into the lower levels of restriction, having more accessible spaces would restrict contagion while still enabling people to share that all important drink or a meal together.  

Outdoor spaces for people to gather on a dry night and pass the time over a few drinks are not impossible to achieve either. One of the few spaces in Dublin where this has been made possible is by the Bord Gáis Theatre in Dublin’s Docklands. Under Level 3, this was another popular spot for people to meet, but by and large it never matched the large groups of people in very close proximity that we saw around Powerscourt and Fitzwilliam Street in general. This was because, something of a rarity in Dublin, there were spaces for people to sit and they were not forced to all pile on top of one another on some ill-fit stairs. If there were more spaces such as this one in the capital, one could be certain that better distanced gatherings could be facilitated. We would not fall into the trap of being demonised for wanting to enjoy a social drink together while still hoping to ensure relatively low social contact among people.

Although the gatherings by the Powerscourt steps may have petered off in recent weeks as the majority of people are complying with the tighter restrictions, there remains no clear pathway into total non-restricted living. As such, we should prepare our city to better enable socially distanced means of meeting for a drink and a chat together, and a crucial part of this is creating more outdoor spaces for people to sit and relax together. In doing this, not only will we prevent the dense and uncontrolled gatherings that we’ve witnessed around Powerscourt, but we will also be providing essential improvements to the lives of those who are stuck in more restrained and isolated living conditions and who rely on going out to meet people as a crucial source of happiness and freedom.

Connie Roughan

Connie Roughan is the Unions Correspondent for Trinity News and a Senior Fresh BESS student.

Seán McElroy

Seán McElroy is a Staff Writer for Trinity News.