A major mixed-use scheme in Dublin's Liberties has been criticised for failing to achieve sustainable inner city residential accommodation by An Taisce.

It called on An Bord Pleanála to refuse permission for a revamp of the former Iveagh Markets and Mother Redcaps pub in Dublin 8 because the scheme does not incorporate a residential element.

Dublin hotelier and publican Martin Keane's plans for the two landmark sites includes a Covent Gardens-style shopping-dining-drinking venue as well as a hotel and a separate aparthotel.

Last month Dublin City Council granted permission for the scheme. It will see the early 20th century Iveagh Markets transformed into a multi-function space incorporating retail, dining, drinking, exhibition, performance and entertainment space. An adjacent site will be home to a seven-storey 97-bedroom hotel.

He also got the go-ahead to change a previously permitted approval for 68 apartments and shops to a six-storey 83-unit aparthotel and bar/restaurant at Mother Redcaps.

The Mother Redcaps site is located opposite Tailors' Hall on Back Lane, a protected structure managed by An Taisce on a long term lease from the council.

The proposed blocks on both sites "have a monolitic and lifeless appearance", according to An Taisce.

In particular, plans for the six-storey building directly facing Tailors' Hall would be seriously detrimental to the protect structure, it added.

An 83-bedroom aparthotel will represent "a poor quality, undesirable use for the area" and will be in direct conflict with Dublin City Council's efforts to achieve sustainable inner city residential accommodation, it added.

An Taisce has called for the number of aparthotel units to be reduced or replaced entirely with residential use.