Picture the scene, if you will. You're sitting in a corner of a book-lined bar in Dublin, nursing your pint and assessing the odds in the 2.30 at Kempton, when, suddenly, the picture on the wall behind you disappears and is replaced by the bearded, grinning visage of Senator David Norris, regaling you with examples of Dublin wit and our national literary heritage.
How you react to this surprising turn of events - choke on your pint, make a break for the door, or smile good-naturedly while making a point of avoiding North Great George's Street in future - will determine something of your response to Bailey's Icon, the largest bar in Ireland.
The first experience of Icon, situated in a new £11.5 million Baileys Centre development at Leopardstown Racecourse, is a little overwhelming, partly because of its size (lose your loved one in here and you're likely to be going home with somebody else) but more particularly because of its multi-themed inspiration.
The bar is 20,000 sq ft in size and spread over five levels, one of them a suspended glass floor to facilitate the bar's light shows, with five distinct dining areas or "food acts".
The interior is the work of Sarner and Mivan International, and the licence for the premises came from the transfer of two rural licenses to one urban license.
The bar is further sub-divided into themed sections, among them the area inspired by Trinity College's library and haunted, thanks to the use of a plasma screen, by Senator Norris.
These sections combine sound, furnishings and trompe l'oeil murals to recreate iconic elements of Irish architecture and geography, including Carlingford Lough (complete with boat and pier); a church-like exterior wall based on a "jealousy wall" in Mullingar; a Dublin street scene, the site of the complex's fish restaurant; a snug based loosely on the Crown Bar in Belfast; and a farmhouse kitchen which operates as the main restaurant. There will be no piped music in the bar, according to Peter O'Connor, project director of Icon; instead, each area will have its own distinctive tone and mood.
The effect can be disconcerting at first - finding Powerscourt waterfall beside the Cliffs of Moher is like opening your front door and finding yourself in your back garden - yet there is no doubting the imagination and invention, not to mention the money, that went into designing the interior, from the 850 theatrical lights - which are all individually programmed and computerised - to the specially-commissoned Waterford Glass sculpture above the 18 metre-long main bar.
The premises housing Icon, which opens on April 16th, followed by the general opening of the complex on April 18th, are rented from Leopardstown Racecourse by Baileys at a rent of about £500,000 per annum, but Baileys has spent a further £6.5 million on the fit out, including a £1 million sound, video and light show - Eriu. The management of the premises has been given over on a long-term contract to Ubiquity, a company formed last year by Donal O'Gallagher, former general manager of the Shelbourne Hotel, while its capacity will be limited to 650 people in order to ensure quality of service from the bar's 84 staff. The target is to attract 200,000 tourists and 350,000 Irish people in the first year.
Icon is only one element, albeit a striking one, of the whole complex, which was designed by architects Cantrell and Crowley, working with builders Cedar. The lower level houses a 4,000 sq ft Kilkenny Design shop, while Kilkenny will also manage a store in Icon itself devoted exclusively to Bailey's products. Adjoining Icon is the 20,000 sq ft Leopardstown Pavilion, a two-level conference centre with facilities for over 1,000 people and glass walls permitting an unimpeded view of the racecourse.
The construction of the complex was funded primarily from borrowing as part of the £13 million capital development programme at the racecourse, according to the general manager of Leopardstown, John White.
The opening of the complex represents the latest phase in the ongoing development of the 181-acre racecourse, which already houses, among other elements, a golf course, the Westwood health centre and the Club 92 nightclub, and attracts one million visitors each year.
About £6 million is being spent on improvements to existing facilities, including the conference rooms and bars in the main grandstand, and there exists the possibility of adding a hotel to the site.
