Miguel Lopes moved to Ireland from Portugal in 2021 with “zero English” but is now officially in love with the country.
“I love the people, I feel at home and I brought my family to Ireland too,” he says.
Standing in Liberty Park in Dublin 1 with a stall piled high with Portuguese desserts, Lopes now runs his own business, Baqkano’s – his way of bringing Portugal with him to Ireland.
“It’s my first time cooking professionally. My mother was a chef in Portugal for 40 years. She gave me the recipes and I brought it to Ireland.”
He claims with confidence that his custard tarts are the best in the country, saying the secret is “Kerrygold butter, Irish milk and free-range eggs”.
Lopes is speaking during the first day of trading at the new lunchtime market just off Foley Street, a pilot initiative introduced by the North East Inner City (NEIC) initiative. He hopes to soon open a kiosk in O’Gorman’s Market Square Shopping Centre in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan too and is looking to open a second location in Louth.
Lopes is one of nine traders taking part in the four-week Lunch at Liberty Park pilot, which is backed by Dublin City Council. Others include Joy, a West African food vendor; Lucan’s China House, which serves dumplings, skewers and noodles; Bob’s wood-fired pizza; and Tanya’s Kitchen, a Skerries, Co Dublin bakery.
“A success for this pilot would be that we get enough traction behind it that we would become a regular occurrence and that Liberty Park would become known for its good food and it’s a place to come for lunch,” says Leona Fynes, administrative officer and senior official with Dublin City Council.
“For the next four Wednesdays we will be here from 12 to 3pm. We are really hoping to highlight Liberty Park and its location and really hopefully engage some of the businesses and the people working in the area to use and utilise the park and for the local people.”
The scheme follows upgrades made to the park in October 2025, with grants of €2,500 being made available to community groups who wish to host activities that will “activate the park in a positive way”.
Taste the place: Ireland’s must-visit food destinations
The leafy park was “activated“ on Wednesday afternoon with retirees, office workers with their laptops out on the especially provided long tables, children running around and playing on the monkey bars and a smattering of construction workers.
The market’s midweek lunch slot was selected because it is the best day for “bums on seats in offices”, says Hynes.
“When we first opened the market, we realised a lot of people didn’t actually know where Liberty Park is. It’s really tucked away behind Talbot Street so it is just through the laneway there. You’re right in the centre of Dublin 1 and it’s a small walk to the IFSC and O’Connell Street so we really are in the middle of everywhere.”