An old set of Victorian toilets, hidden under a waterfall in a park in Dublin 6, could be getting a new lease of life.
With new modern public bathrooms being installed as part of a tearoom, some of the suggestions for the 130 year-old loos in Palmerston Park are an artists studio, photography space or a sensory area for kids.
The toilets are tucked behind a rockery that is connected to a duck pond but the so-called "public conveniences" haven't been in operation for decades.
Local resident Marion Cashman says they’ve been closed to the public for decades;
"The duck pond and the waterfall used to be a real feature but the ducks are long gone and the waterfall is not working.
I think people would be surprised, although there have been articles about them and people have written about the park and mentioned that they were there, but because they're hidden people don't know where they are."
It’s thought there were around 70 public toilets in Dublin in the 1950s and 60s with up to 400 toilet attendants in their heyday. But they began closing in the 1980s and 1990s with an increase in anti social behaviour and drug use.
Similar buildings in the UK have been turned into cocktail bars, nightclubs and even people’s homes.
Dublin city council says it plans on carrying out an assessment of the Palmerston Park toilet’s current condition, allowing it to then investigate options for its future use.
