A private members’ club on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green has lodged an appeal over plans to demolish the building that housed the former Anglo-Irish Bank HQ. This is located very close to the club.
The Kildare Street and University Club (KSUC) has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála opposing the plans for Irish Life Assurance plc subsidiary, Stephen Court Ltd, to demolish 18-21 St Stephen’s Green and replace it with a seven-storey office block.
The former Anglo-Irish Bank building is also seven storeys in height but the gross floor area of the new scheme would be 50 per cent greater, going from 14.068sq m to 21,219sq m.
Along with the KSUC appeal, a local property owner, Radiant Now Ltd, has also lodged an appeal against the Dublin City Council decision to grant permission..
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The club has 1,250 members and it told Dublin City Council that it was “concerned that it may be impossible to function during the period of the construction works”.
The submission said that outside of the normal dining arrangements for members and their guests on a seven-day basis , the club hosts hundreds of annual dining events.
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On behalf of the KSUC, John O’Malley of planning consultancy Kieran O’Malley Ltd, told the council that “if the club was forced to close for a lengthy period of time, it would lose revenue from the residential accommodation, loss of catering and events income, and potentially reduced subscriptions due to a loss of club members as a result of the proposed works which would have a serious impact upon the club’s finances”.
Mr O’Malley also said that “in addition to the impact upon the club’s ability to host member social events and functions, the demolition/construction works will potentially disrupt the occupation of the upper residential floors which are used every day”.
Mr O’Malley went on to say that the KSUC “considers that the noise, vibration and other construction-related impacts are potentially so serious that the club may have to close temporarily”.
In a submission to the council, former environment editor at The Irish Times, Frank McDonald said the building at 18-21 St Stephen’s Green in latter years “acquired notoriety as the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank, the leading lender to developers at the height of the phosphorescent phase of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ era”.
