The National Conference Centre was placed in serious doubt again last night after the Dublin Docklands Development Authority objected to Dublin Corporation about its location.
Yesterday afternoon preparatory work was suspended at the site earmarked for the centre, and 56 workers were sent home by the consortium behind the project, Spencer Dock International, which consists of Treasury Holdings and Mr Harry Crosbie, the owner of the Point Depot.
The group says that unless the DDDA withdraws its objection, work on the site will not resume.
Dublin Corporation is currently considering a planning application for the centre which is scheduled to open on January 1st, 2001, at a cost of £80 million. In its letter to Dublin Corporation, the DDDA says it is "concerned about the precise location of the centre within CIE lands".
A spokesman for the DDDA said the letter was not an official objection and that the DDDA fully supported the idea of a National Conference Centre. However, he said, the DDDA would like to see the centre moved slightly eastwards from its present location.
He added that people living in the docklands were entitled to green space and parks, and this was why the issue was important.
The letter to Dublin Corporation says the master plan for the docklands envisages two parks in the area where the centre is to be situated. The letter adds that the current plans for the centre would prevent the development of these parks.
"DDDA therefore considers that, should Dublin Corporation decide to grant permission, the grant should be subject to conditions," it adds.
However, Treasury Holdings Ltd said last night that if such conditions were included in the planning permission, £25 million of EU funding for the project would be lost.
"The EU grant is site-specific. In other words the money can only be drawn down if the site specifications stay the same as originally submitted," said a spokesman. He added that without the EU funds the project was unsustainable.
"We have spent £4 million on this project already and we just cannot afford to have this opposition from the DDDA, especially when time is against us," he added.
He said the claim by the DDDA that the letter does not constitute a formal objection is wrong. He added that Dublin Corporation is obliged to take the views of the DDDA into account when assessing projects in the DDDA`s area. The current opposition means Dublin Corporation is more likely to reject the planning application, he added.
The row with the DDDA is the second blow suffered by the centre in the last few days. The other was the announcement from the European Commission that urban renewal tax incentives may not be justified given the healthy state of the Irish economy. The original plans for the centre made generous allowances for significant tax incentives. Spencer Dock denies, however, that this is the reason for halting the work at the site.