The future of the former Carlton Cinema on Upper O'Connell Street in Dublin will be decided after an oral hearing beginning tomorrow.

Members of the Carlton Group, which secured planning permission in 1999 from An Bord Pleanála for a €170 Millennium Mall, have objected to a compulsory purchase order (CPO) by Dublin City Council on the cinema and other assembled properties.

These properties include an adjoining site which extends to Moore Street and has been derelict since the late 1970s, an office block occupied by Fingal County Council, Dr Quirkey's Good Time Emporium and Carrolls gift store.

The Carlton Group has planning permission for a 50,000 sq mt shopping and entertainment centre on the 2.5-acre site but has so far failed to get the venture off the ground.

The City Manager, Mr John Fitzgerald said Dublin City Council has "been trying to assist the process to get Millennium Mall on stream but it hasn't happened.

"We are in the position as a city authority where we can't sit back and see the site stay in the appalling condition it is in."

He believes the Carlton site is "crucial" to the rejuvenation of Upper O'Connell Street, Parnell Street and Moore Street.

Dublin City Council says the intention is "not to implement the CPO if the existing owners are in a position to go ahead with the scheme".

But if the oral hearing goes in its favour it may sell the site on to "a developer prepared to bank roll" the existing permission for the Millennium Mall.

The project has been delayed, according to Mr Paul Clinton of the Carlton Group, because "O'Connell Street is not attractive at present" to prospective retail tenants and leisure industry operators.

He says the fate of Millennium Mall hinges on the the redevelopment of O'Connell Street by Dublin City Council, initially scheduled for completion by the year 2000.

"It's not that we haven't done anything with the site. We have completed full site investigations, construction drawings, and have a contract with a builder. We are now waiting for the civic works to start so our potential tenants can see the new O'Connell Street is going to happen," said Mr Clinton.