03/12/2021
Flea Closure
After lots of difficult and emotional discussions, we, the founders and organisers of the Dublin Flea Market, have come to the conclusion that we are not in a position to operate the Dublin Flea Market anymore. Therefore the Dublin Flea Market will officially cease operation at the end of 2021.
This was not a decision we made easily, in fact it was not a decision we feel like we had full control over. This decision was sired by the unfortunate red tape and rocketing rents of the ever difficult Dublin City, where cultural spaces are at an all time low and buildings are still being demolished to make way for more hotels and overpriced office blocks. The reality of the pandemic also played its part and the shift in focus and energy that brought many of us to exodus the constricting confines of the city walls.
The Dublin Flea was a focal point for us in Dublin. We invested our hearts and so much energy into it over an amazing eleven years. Ten of these were spent at our home in Newmarket Square between the Dublin Food Co-op and the Green Door Market and our final year was in The Digital Hub on Thomas Street. We hosted thousands of traders who travelled from all over Ireland and as far as the U.K and France to trade with us. We also welcomed hundreds of thousands of happy market visitors from Ireland and all over the world. We believe that together we created one of the country’s best and most loved markets.
We know how much people miss the Flea. We know this because we are told constantly. And we know how much we miss it because our lives and Dublin are just not the same for us anymore.
Although the Flea is closing we really hope that the new energy that is out there, in the new generations of young people, artists, creatives and communities can be seen and heard by the powers that be. It is essential that this energy is nurtured and encouraged so that it can contribute and enrich the landscape of Dublin’s neighbourhoods. Dublin City needs to wake up and realise it is essential to provide blank spaces for markets and experimental cultural use, as this is where so many of the seeds of contemporary culture are sown.
Although we will be moving on, our hearts will forever be full of the memories and the joy and happiness that the Flea and it’s community gave us. We will update our website soon to be an archive of those special years so that the memories can live on and we endeavour to continue to advocate for markets in a city that is strongly lagging behind in terms of European Market Culture.
For now we want to thank everyone who has ever visited, supported, traded, haggled, shopped, laughed, danced, hugged and been there with us through thick and thin.
Words cannot really describe the loss we feel.
Thank you all for being there with us. It was a beautiful thing.
Aisling, Dave, Luca and Sharon
The Dublin Fleas.
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