A rally has been held in Dublin in protest over the planned closure of The Paris Bakery, a well-known bakery and restaurant business.

Organised by “appalled” customers around 150 people gathered outside the shop at 18-19 Moore Street last Saturday (22 February).

The building is due to be demolished when its lease expires in June - to make way for a €900m (£743m) shopping development in a move that would cause the loss of 70 jobs.

Steve Cunningham, operations manager at The Paris Bakery, said: “The rally was organised by customers and people appalled by what’s going on. We’ve had great support, and couldn’t ask any more from our customers.”

Cunningham added that landlord Chartered Land had offered an alternative building owned by the company on the other side of Moore Street, but that the business could not afford to relocate.

“It was half the size, with no planning permission, and they didn’t make us any sort of deal on how to move across. We’ve already used every line of credit, and can’t afford to do it again.”

Messages left on hoardings on the street read: “Save the Paris Bakery jobs and our history. Save Moore Street”; “Preserve our Dublin culture”; and “We don’t need another soulless shopping centre!”

Following the rally, a meeting has been planned this week between the business and its landlord to discuss its options. Founded in November 2010, a petition launched by the café and bakery business has received over 5,000 signatures, according to Cunningham.

Neighbours of The Paris Bakery at 14 - 17 Moore Street were recently declared a national monument because of their use in the 1916 Easter Rising.

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