Airbnb has targeted council employees with online adverts. Does that count as lobbying?
“Just because it’s digital, and not over coffee, doesn’t mean it’s not,” says Niamh Kirk, an associate professor at the University of Limerick.
“We’re all maybe a little bit lonely, we’re struggling a little bit and we’re saying, ‘I’m here as well and I’m the same’,” says Asghar Butt.
Several people who hold signs on Grafton Street for a living say they hope proposed new Dublin City Council regulations won’t cost them their jobs.
It was supposed to be closed for maybe six months, for renovation. Fifteen months later, it’s still closed, and the company hasn’t set a date for a grand reopening.
Walled or fenced “super blocks” like Trinity College, Dublin Castle and Leinster House are obstacles to pedestrians and cyclists trying to get around the city.
Even though Grafton Street has been finished for three months, there has been very little comment on whether it’s good, bad or indifferent.