Dublin City Council Will Trial ‘Play Orders’ To Shut Down Streets While Children Play

Dublin City Councillor Deirdre Heney has confirmed that plans to introduce ‘play orders’ in the city are underway, which would see residential roads closed off to traffic for short periods to allow children to play on the streets.

Now in the pilot stage, the initiative proposed by Cllr Heney in 2013 will first be tested on Clancarthy Road in Donnycarney to see whether or not these play orders will work on Dublin's streets.

It is Cllr Heney's hope that play orders will help foster a sense of community that seems to be disappearing from the neighbourhoods of the capital.

The idea of these ‘play orders' is to give city neighbourhoods a couple of hours every month or two to get out of their homes, meet their neighbours and allow their children to play on the street without safety concerns. The street, or a portion of it, would be closed to traffic for a couple of hours, creating a safe environment that would bring together the local community.

Cllr Deirdre Heney

Play orders originated in Bristol where they worked extremely well, if the trial proves successful in Donnycarney the orders will then be rolled out across Dublin.