A Waterford Fianna Fáil Councillor wants to see the city centre transformed into a giant open-air cafe and bar.
Adam Wyse says it's something that's being tried in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania which has a population of 500,000.
He says Waterford is better placed than many other cities due to the pedestrianisation of its centre:
"To a lot of people's annoyance maybe, pedestrianising certain areas across Waterford - the Viking Triangle, John Roberts' Square - some people feel it hasn't benefited us. But now I think that we can actually use this time to benefit Waterford, the likes of the Apple Market and John Roberts' Square could become this amazing, open area cafe. We could have seating outside for pubs, we could give them the extra seating and space they need for their customers so that they can go back to providing employment and putting money into the revenue."
Councillor Wyse also wants free parking at the weekends:
"You could actually close a lot of the laneways that are across Waterford that have businesses that could put seating outside along them. You look at places along the Mall, you look at places in Ballybricken where it wouldn't actually be necessary for people to drive right into the centre, they could use our public car parks.
"I would be asking Waterford Council to remove the car parking charges for the weekend to further assist these businesses, and have people park 100 metres, 200, 300 metres away and walk in and be able to go for a coffee with their friend, or be able to go for a drink with their friends as well, if they can do it safely. That's the most important thing that the bar staff and the bar owners take this very seriously, take this as an opportunity to show that Waterford can be a leader in this country on this issue."
