Council puts out new plans for revamp of Mountjoy Square

On a dark Wednesday evening at the closed gates to Mountjoy Square Park, two old-style lanterns on the railings emit a cool white light, and people hurry past as cold rain falls on orange leaves.

At the moment, the footpaths around the square are average, and there are only a few crossings from the island-like park to the streets and terraces that surround it.

But Dublin City Council has new plans to change that – and to restore the park to its Georgian layout, and improve the sports facilities.

Pedestrians will be prioritised over cars around Mountjoy Square after the restoration, said Gareth Toolan, a council landscape architect.

The council is to increase the width of footpaths around the park and install pedestrian crossings, said Toolan at a meeting of the council’s Central Area Committee on Tuesday.

The proposed project seeks to reimagine the park within the context of its original 1802 design, according to a council report, restoring its railings and adding to the two lanterns on them, with 84 “oil” lamps around the park’s edges. 

Plans also show public toilets, a “lawn area” to serve as a football pitch, a basketball court, accessible seating and an outdoor gym. The council has budgeted €3.25 million. 

Donough Cahill, executive director of the Irish Georgian Society, said the restoration of the oil lamps has not been done at any of the city's other Georgian squares. 

“It’s fantastic that Dublin City Council has taken this project on, finally, after many many years, realising the potential to reinstate the original landscape design for Mountjoy Square,” he says. 

“And hopefully it will be a catalyst for the regeneration of the area,” he said.

The Dublin Civic Trust and a local group, the Mountjoy Square Society, really pushed the project forward, Cahill says. 

The council has worked up plans for Mountjoy Square before, and in 2018 applied for planning permission. 

In 2019, though, it pulled those, amid tensions between conservationists, who wanted to see the park restored in line with its Georgian heritage, and others who wanted to retain sports facilities in the park. 

The new plan should facilitate both, said Toolan. “There has been a huge amount of consultation on this in the last 10 years.”

Plans for restoration

Mountjoy Square was originally designed as “a pleasure garden for passive recreation”, says the report to councillors. 

Half of the park has the same layout today, albeit it altered and deteriorated, the report says. “The other half is in a poor state due to disjointed interventions that clash with the square’s aesthetics and functionality.”

The infrastructure is inadequate, it says, and incompatible with the Georgian design of the park. 

The council’s plan is to remove an old tennis court and a building which is currently in use for a youth centre, said Toolan, at the meeting. 

The youth centre is to move to the Rutland Street School, when that development is ready, he said.

After, the council plans to green and replant the park, restore railings and footpaths, install outdoor seating and gym equipment, build play trails and heritage trails, basketball facilities, green space and install in-ground power for events. 

“Respecting the history while moving into the future,” says Toolan.

The written plan refers to a “large level flexible use lawn area”.

That new lawn will facilitate football, said Toolan. “It will be a lot more attractive” with “a high quality finish to it, a FIFA grade”.

Green Party Councillor Janet Horner welcomed the plans to restore the park in line with its Georgian heritage. “This is really exciting,” she said. “Mountjoy Park should be one of the finest parks in the city.”

Crossing the road over to Mountjoy Square can be hazardous because there is a dearth of signalised pedestrian crossings. 

The council plans to address that issue, said Toolan at the meeting, by installing more.

Another of the council’s priorities is to widen footpaths around the park, he said. “So it’s a more welcoming space and a gathering space and a buffer zone and make it more pedestrian friendly and move away from that car dominated square.” 

Cahill, the director of the Irish Georgian Society, said that the plans should transform how the park looks. 

“You will have people wanting to go to Mountjoy Square to experience part of the north Georgian core,” he said, by phone on Thursday. 

At the meeting, Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan commended the project, but said she was concerned about anti-social behaviour in parks in the north inner-city. 

“It’s an awful thing to say and it’s something that I don’t like to highlight,” she said. 

The council is working with the Gardaí on a plan to deter anti-social behaviour there, said Toolan. 

Meshing sports and heritage

The Lord Mayor, Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam, said that sports uses need to be included in the plans. 

“The park does get a huge amount of use and I don’t want to lose its usability in any enhancement plans,” he said. 

Toolan said any sports that are currently played in Mountjoy Square can still be played there after this restoration. “We’re not losing any facilities that are there already.”

The old tennis court isn’t suitable for use at the moment because of holes and cracks in the surfacing, he said. 

Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis said he thought the revamp was “going to be brilliant” for the park. “This is a recreational hub at the heart of the city.”

At the meeting, Ennis asked if there would be changing rooms included in the plans. Toolan said that there are plans for toilets, but not changing rooms. 

By phone on Thursday, Ennis said the park is already a hub for recreational activities for the people living in the immediate area. 

It needs to be shaped by the needs of the community as well as the history, he says, and the community desperately needs usable green space. 

“We’re looking at a huge number of children and families living in emergency accommodation that have no access to green space or play space apart from Mountjoy Square,” he says. “That has to be factored into the plans.”

Ennis says he played football at Mountjoy Square casually when he was younger and hopes to see organised matches, including schools teams playing there in the future. 

“We’ve never seen a competitive football fixture before on Mountjoy Square,” he says. 

A new pitch could bring together people from all parts of the community, he says. 

Looking ahead

Local councillors agreed to the plan in principle, but also asked for more details. Toolan agreed to provide them with an additional briefing.

The planning permission application should come before the full council at its next meeting, in December, said Toolan. 

That’s another step in the council’s internal planning permission process, known as Part 8. 

After that the plans should go out to public consultation, and the council will run additional consultation too, said Toolan. 

Toolan said he hopes construction could start in late 2026 or early 2027.