Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a perception, certainly among my age group, of the violence that one hears about: the one-punch chip shop punch, or in the clubs, be it drink or drug-fuelled on O'Connell Street even in the middle of the day. There is a perception that Dublin is a dangerous city. People write about it all of the time. Can the witnesses address that? That needs to be counteracted because they know what they are talking about because they run the venues and participate in this environment.

I have this notion that Temple Bar is open 24 hours a day. I agree that we need to get back to the small entertainment venues because we have become a Tesco of entertainment. Even with the opening of Wetherspoons, with which there is nothing wrong, but it is as if we are going to the same venue and we "Tescoise" everything. I use that description to reflect the bigness and that everything has to be on that scale, as opposed to the unique small venues that can be found in Edinburgh at festival time in little alleyways where there is theatre, dialogue, debate and art.

The very thing that Ms O'Connell is trying to do is so important but it is being closed down by what is attributed to the big venues.

Mr. Sharpe referred to food. I refer to international cities. For example, I had the privilege once of be in Taipei, it came alive at 12 midnight but everything quietened down by 4 a.m. There was a live sense of people shopping or having food, which is very important.

Is it that we have less control than in other cities? People come home from Amsterdam, including my sons, and say that it is a wonderful city, full of life but with a police presence, where everybody is having a wonderful time and there is no violence. What the witnesses are asking for is completely right. We can have the Wild Atlantic Way but we must also have the physicality of city life. In Limerick and Galway, and not just during festivals, what they are saying is completely right. If we can assist in amending the legislation, I am totally on their side.