Dublin

Dublin City Council refuses planning permission for 14-storey apartment block on site at Herbert Park

There is currently permission for a 12-storey block on the site, and Derryroe Ltd had sought approval to add two further floors

Proinsias O'Rathaille, grandson of Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, outside his grandfather's former home in Ballsbridge, Dublin which was demolished. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Gordon Deegan
Sun Mar 10 2024 - 16:27

Dublin City Council has refused to grant planning permission for a 14-storey apartment block on a site at Herbert Park where the home of Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, the only leader killed fighting during the 1916 Rising, once stood.

There is currently permission for a 12-storey block on the site, and Derryroe Ltd, a company owned by the operators of the Herbert Park Hotel, the McSharry and Kennedy families, had sought approval to add two further floors.

Derryroe demolished the Ballsbridge house in controversial circumstances in September 2020, when it was under consideration for addition to the Record of Protected Structures (RPS). The council took legal action against Derryroe and construction firm Pembroke Place Developments for “unauthorised demolition” of the house. The case was settled in November 2022 when Pembroke Place Developments accepted noncompliance with planning permission and was ordered to pay €3,000 to charity to avoid a conviction.

In response to Derryroe’s Large Scale Residential Development application for numbers 36, 38 and 40 Herbert Park and number 10 Pembroke Place, the council has issued a split decision made up of a refusal and permission.

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It refused permission for the additional two storeys, ruling that this “would be visually inappropriate in this predominantly low rise location, adjacent to Herbert Park”.

It also found that “the inclusion of a vertical extension of this scale would have a detrimental impact on the architectural quality to the permitted scheme, therefore its addition cannot be justified in this instance”.

The council also concluded that the proposed addition of two storeys would create a precedent for similar undesirable development and would be contrary to policies in the Dublin City Development Plan.

A planner’s report said the local authority did not consider that the addition of two extra floors provided “a compelling architectural and urban design rationale that would provide a positive contribution to the urban character of the surrounding area”.

The council granted permission for one additional floor to be added to an adjoining block to create a seven storey complex. The application did not seek to increase the 103 apartments already permitted.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times

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