Publican Charlie Chawke has been granted permission for a funeral home beside his Goat Bar and Grill in Goatstown, south Dublin.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council gave the go-ahead despite opposition from Fanagans Funeral Directors, which operates in the nearby suburb of Dundrum.
Mr Chawke said he was “delighted” that the council has granted planning permission.
“It is always great to get planning permission. It has come through now thank God.”
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Mr Chawke said that a funeral home, operating from the ground floor of the former Paddy Power unit at the The Goat retail complex, “would be good for business at The Goat”.
“I had this idea going back a while that a funeral home would be good for the business, where people coming to a funeral can dine in The Goat after”.
He said that “there is plenty of room” for a funeral home at The Goat to serve the area.
Mr Chawke said he was “disappointed” that Fanagans lodged an objection to the planned funeral home at the junction of Lower Kilmacud Road and Taney Road.
“Why anyone should object against it I don’t know.”
He said the Chawke Group would not directly operate the funeral home and would lease the space to a funeral home operator. He said he has had positive discussions with one.
Asked about a possible appeal by Fanagans to An Bord Pleanála, Mr Chawke said: “Hopefully they won’t and leave it is as it is, and we can get cracking on it.”
The council granted planning permission after concluding that the funeral home “would not detract from the amenities of the area and is consistent with the provisions of the current development plan”.
However, in an objection on behalf of Fanagans, Manahan Planners said the application was “ill-conceived”.
The objection said there was “no local need for an additional funeral home to cater to this suburb of the city”.
The grant of permission coincides with the release of accounts which show that the Chawke Group pubs continue to perform strongly, with The Bank pub on Dublin’s College Green recording post-tax profits of €572,649 in the 12 months to the end of April last.
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