A High Court judge has dismissed claims that redevelopment works at the Ormond Hotel in Dublin are in breach of the planning laws.
Mr Justice Charles Meenan rejected claims brought by Urban Entertainment Ltd trading as the Bagots Hutton restaurant, which is located beside the site, owned by Monteco Holdings Ltd, where the new hotel is being built.
The restaurant operator, in proceedings opposed by Monteco, had sought various orders from the court including one prohibiting demolition works at the site.
It also sought an order prohibiting any further development until certain conditions of the planning permission had been complied with.
The restaurant operators further sought orders requiring Monteco to prepare a construction and traffic management plan, and that the development is carried out in accordance with the plans lodged with the local authority.
The Judge said the restaurant operators had alleged that Montero had breached conditions of planning permission to redevelop the site that had been granted by An Bord Pleanála.
The judge said the demolition works started on the site in June 2018 and that the applicant had claimed that noise dust and vibrations were at such a level it was forced to cease trading.
The claim of alleged nuisance was the subject of other proceedings, the judge said.
In this action, the court was asked to determine if there had been a breach of the conditions attached to the Monteco’s planning permission, the judge said.
It was also asked if there was such a breach was the restaurant operator entitled to the orders it had sought under Section 160 of the 2000 Planning and Development Act, he added.
Following the court’s consideration of the claim, the judge said he was satisfied that the restaurant operator had failed to identify any breach of the conditions attaching to the planning permission that would would allow the court make the orders sought under Section 160 of the 2000 Act.
The judge also noted that separate proceedings by Michael Smith, owner/occupier of number 5, where the same set of facts were raised, had been settled.
The Ormond, prior to a previous complete redevelopment in 1906, featured in an entire chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses. It has been closed for a number of years.
An Bord Pleanála granted permission last year to Monteco to completely demolish the existing four-storey over basement structure, which had 62 bedrooms, to replace it with a part five-storey and four-storey 121 bedroom hotel.
The site occupies numbers 7 to 13 on Ormond Quay Upper and includes a protected structure at number 12. It adjoins number 6, a national monument which dates back to the 17th century.