A few weeks ago we were in Dublin for the Coffee & Tea Festival – I blogged about it here & here on Coffee NI.

One of the things about the coffee scene around Dublin that excited us were the shared spaces of Vice and Roasted Brown. The idea that a community of people sharing a building could unite to help sustain several different businesses is not a new thing… shopping centres work around this principle right? Sort of!

But, what about smaller premises on or near the high street or in the case of Roasted Brown, right smack bang in the centre of Temple Bar in Dublin. They are in the middle of a building predominantly known as the home of Filmbase. The arts world always delivers an eclectic mix of visitors…

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Coffee thrives in this kind of environment though, different people come and go and bring others at various times and… coffee is always a welcome addition to any community.

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We blogged about a local pop-up coffee initiative that borrows some inspiration from this kind of thinking here .

Maybe other local businesses will be watching avidly to see if these kinds of ideas might take legs. This article and the linked news story would suggest that we should take notice of pop-ups, shared spaces and fresh new ideas.