Dublin City Council has published detailed plans to pedestrianise areas near Grafton Street on a trial basis.
Sections of South Anne Street, South William Street, Duke Street, Drury Street and Dame Court are included.
The trials will take place on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11am to 7pm, beginning on the 25th of July. The pilot will run for four weeks.
Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon believes the scheme will be beneficial to local businesses;
"I think anyone who has been in the area, has been along South William Street in particular, will know that it's an area where pedestrianisation would be a great idea because there's very little car traffic, the streets are almost entirely commercial so there's a huge amount of footfall."
Business owners
Karl Purdy owns the CoffeeAngel cafe on South Anne Street and has been campaigning for the area to become car free;
"I'm a little disappointed that it's only on weekends, two out of the seven days a week, but I think it's a great starting point."
Dublin Town criticism
Dublin Town says testing car-free streets should be done across the entire week instead of one or two days.
The business group says more urgency and imagination is needed from the city council to boost businesses.
CEO Richard Guiney says people should be able to use the space until 9 or 9.30 night;
"The overall messaging that has been agreed by all of the partners, including Dublin city council, is to encourage people to come in at their leisure, go for a meal, spend a little bit of time in the city and go home that little bit later."
