Landmark NIB building goes on sale for €4m

One of Dublin’s great landmark buildings, the National Irish Bank on College Green, goes for sale today at a guide price of €4 million.

The branch and 26 others ceased trading last Thursday when owner Danske Bank closed its retail operation to focus on online banking.

The College Green block, noted for its ornate exterior and exquisite ceiling detail of the banking hall, is one of 16 branches about to be offered for sale at heavily discounted prices through Stephen McCarthy of agent Savills.

Sale of the flagship Dublin branch may well induce the Government to make another attempt at persuading Bank of Ireland to move across the road to the former NIB building and leave the former Irish parliament building free for cultural uses.

Otherwise, the branch is likely to end up in retail or restaurant use just like two other former bank branches on College Green.

Abercrombie Fitch trade from another Bank of Ireland building while publican Charlie Chawke runs a successful bar and restaurant business in the Victorian bank building built for the Belfast Bank.

NIB has an overall floor area of 2,850sq m (30,676sq ft) across seven levels including mezzanines over ground and first floors.

More importantly, the ground floor extends to 544.89sq m (5,865sq ft).

The rear of the building fronting on to Andrew Street was remodelled in 1980 to accommodate a loading bay and three floors of modern offices overhead. The basement is largely used for safes and strongrooms.

Whoever buys the block may well look at the option of opening a shop opposite the Dublin tourist office on Andrew Street just as Paddy McKillen and Tony Leonard created a large retail unit for Cult Clothing in part of the old Bank of Ireland building backing on to Suffolk Street.

The building opened as the Union Bank in 1867 and within six months was acquired by the Hibernian Bank.

It was transferred into Bank of Ireland ownership in 1972 and seven years later was sold to the Northern Bank.

That bank was later rebranded as National Irish Bank and in 2005 was acquired along with the Northern Bank by Danske Bank, Denmark’s biggest banking group.

The College Green building is noted for its Italian Gothic features and French chateau-like roofline and corner tower.

The banking hall is noted for its superb vaulted ceiling with extensive decorative plasterwork, elaborate arches and impressive columns from ground to second floor.