There's been a U-turn on plans to remove the last remaining public toilets in Dublin city centre.
The council says it's worked out a solution to keep temporary bathrooms at St Stephen's Green operating while it works on a more permanent solution.
It had announced in recent days the toilets, that cost almost €400,000 a year, would shut over falling demand. A report from the local authority said 1,500 people on average were using the bathrooms each week.
That was down from a peak of around 20,000 in 2021 when temporary public toilets were operating at the top of Grafton Street and at Wolfe Tone Square.
They had been introduced as a pandemic measure when restaurants and bars were closed.
A report from the council said the operator of the toilets was going out of business and proposals would be drawn up but were toilets not expected to be in place until summer 2026.
It has since said the St Stephen's Green bathrooms will remain in place for the time being while an alternative is found.
Councillor Claire Byrne had branded the original decision as ludicrous;
"This is an abhorrent, ongoing failure of this city to provide a basic service."
Labour councillor Dermot Lacey told a council meeting yesterday "it makes a laugh of the council".
Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie
