More than 13,000 people have signed a petition to save Dublin's Merchant's Arch.
Permission has been granted to demolish a building on the laneway and replace it with a hotel and restaurant.
Comedian Dara Ó Briain and singer Imelda May are among those who've come out against the plans.
Is this true?!?!?!
First the cobblestones now the buildings by Merchants Arch?! @Failte_Ireland
@TourismIreland
@LordMayorDublin #Dublin https://t.co/2FKiQmFeSg— Imelda May (@ImeldaOfficial) October 4, 2021
The area, which dates to the 1820s, is a laneway as you enter Temple Bar from the Ha'penny Bridge. The arch itself will remain and it is believed people will still be able to walk through the lane.
But Frank McDonald, chair of the Temple Bar Residents Association, say it will change the historic walkway;
"That laneway, which is kind of Dublin's own little version of a souk, that you'd find in a Middle Eastern city.
"We regard it as being particularly important that that character of Merchant's Arch should be maintained."
He went on to say; "The building of a four-storey hotel, with a so-called restaurant at ground floor and basement levels, is just going to fundamentally change the whole character and appearance and feel of Merchant's Arch."
