Dublin City Centre BID Company announced today that the referendum has been passed to establish a Business Improvement District (BID) for Dublin City Centre which will provide a range of environmental improvement services for the city's Dublin 1 & Dublin 2 retail core.

The BID gives local city businesses a framework to raise additional funds to provide services including graffiti removal, litter removal, shop front improvement, capital investment, marketing, hospitality officers etc. The services will be additional to those already provided by Dublin City Council.  

According to the Chairman of the Dublin City Centre BID Company, Basil Good, "The establishment of the BID brings us into a new era and new level of democracy. It is the first time in the history of the State that ratepayers have a democratic mandate to improve the quality of service and public environment in their own area, in addition to that provided by Dublin City Council.  We are thrilled with the level of response from the ratepayers in the BID area and believe this will enable us to ensure the future of Dublin City Centre as a successful and World Class city."

3,700 ratepayers in the BID area were invited to vote in this local referendum which closed on Thursday. Dublin City Council acted as returning officers for the referendum under the Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Act 2006. The ratepayers in the BID area voted to establish the BID by a majority of 77%.  

According to Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Paddy Bourke, "This is a great day for a great city. It is also a great reflection on how businesses and local authorities can work together to meet joint objectives. I would like to congratulate the City's business leaders who have worked so hard to introduce this and to the City Council who have facilitated it. We look forward to seeing the results and improvements on our city's streets."

The first BID services will be introduced from January 2008.