Goodbye seating: Outdoor tables and seats area removed from Kilkenny's Market Yard

They were a vestige of the pandemic era but now they are no more. The 20 or so picnic tables with seats and planter boxes that were installed in Market Square as Kilkenny exited the initial Covid-19 lockdown have been removed by Kilkenny County Council. In their place are some new loading bays and parking spaces.

In the summer of 2020, over 20 parking spaces were removed to accommodate the provision of 20 socially distanced hexagonal picnic tables with umbrellas, with many people enjoying dining al fresco as the sun shone. They were not without controversy - at one stage dubbed 'Covid Corner' due to concerns over people not social distancing - but they provided an essential outdoor space to allow people to gather safely outdoors.

As the pandemic faded into the past, many city workers and school students still regularly used the tables to have their lunch or just to socialise. Littering and tidiness was often an issue, but most people made the best of it, and it was welcomed as an addition to the street furniture to meet growing demand for outdoor amenity spaces.

In 2021, it was announced that the space at Market Yard was to be developed into a permanent outdoor dining space, with a ssum of €649,000 allocated by Fáilte Ireland. In 2022, Kilkenny County Council put forward new plans for this Market Square area, noting the seating scheme 'has proved so successful that it is now proposed to incorporate this area into the existing Market Square to provide an enhanced public space in the heart of Kilkenny’s medieval core.

"The combined area of the Market Square and section of Market Yard Car Park to be incorporated into the square will be approximately 1,000 square metres," said the presentation to local councillors.

"The enhanced Market Square shall be developed as a high-quality public realm area, incorporating a high standard of hard and soft landscaping. It is intended Market Square will be a pedestrian and cyclist dominated space, with limited vehicular access. Market Square is to be developed primarily as a shared surface with no vertical segregation of surfaces to be used by pedestrians and cyclists. Provision of seating for outdoor dining is an important aspect of this scheme."
VIDEO: COUNCIL'S NEW PLANS FOR KIERAN STREET/MARKET SQUARE IN KILKENNY CITY
The plans also said that Market Square in particular is likely to become part of a busy walking and cycling route connecting the city centre and the eastern side of the city.  It said that consideration 'shall be given to how the Market Square area may be used as an outdoor entertainment area during such festivals and events or for general entertainment'

As can be seen from several mock-up design proposals, a significant roof/canopy structure was envisioned above a raised performance area/bandstand structure. With the space now reverted back to parking/loading bays for now at least, it remains to be seen at what stage these plans are and what  the ultimate vision for the area will be. As recently as last September, the council said it was anticipated works can begin on the St Kieran’s Street and Market Square Urban Enhancement Scheme imminently with a contractor now appointed.

A carpark once again
In recent weeks, the new Watergate Urban Park with performance space was opened just off Parliament Street.