Dublin City Council has ordered developer Harry Crosbie to provide details of all hotels within 1km of his proposed new hotel on Vicar Street in Dublin.
The move comes amid an objection to Crosbie’s proposed 182-bedroom hotel on a site next to the Dublin music venue of the same name, citing the City Development Plan which seeks to avoid an over-concentration of hotels in certain areas of the city.
As a result, the council has asked Mr Crosbie’s firm to submit a report outlining all existing and planned hotel developments within a 1km distance of the proposed development and provide a justification that the hotel “will not undermine the principles of achieving a balanced pattern of development in the area”.
A spokesman for Mr Crosbie declined to comment.
A slew of objections have been lodged against the plans, including one from a senior Augustinian priest who has joined the chorus of local disapproval.
Fr Paddy O’Reilly as Prior at John’s Lane Church, Dublin 8 leads the eight-strong Augustinian priests serving the local community and in an objection, he told the city council that “the Liberties area is being saturated with hotel and student accommodation developments which is displacing families and this long-established proud community is under siege”.
In April, Mr Crosbie’s Vicar Street Hotel Ltd lodged plans for the eight-storey hotel on Vicar Street, Dublin 8 and the hotel site is bounded by Vicar Street to the east and Molyneaux yard to the west and lies in proximity to Mr Crosbie’s Vicar Street entertainment venue.
Mr Crosbie has previously secured planning permission for a hotel at the site but that expires on August 25th necessitating the new application.
In his one page objection, under the heading of ‘saturation of hotel/student development’, Fr O’Reilly writes that “this is a major concern for D8 and especially in the Liberties”.
Our community is determined to protect the Liberties – it is recognised as a special area of Dublin and we welcome appropriate sympathetic development
— Fr O'Reilly
He states that “this proposal leads to further over-concentration and results in an excessively transient population in the vicinity of the site”.
He further states that “our community is determined to protect the Liberties – it is recognised as a special area of Dublin and we welcome appropriate sympathetic development”.
Fr O’Reilly warned that the council “must prioritise and protect the gem that is the Liberties – it cannot be lost through ill-conceived over development and saturation of hotels”.
Speaking on Monday, Fr O’Reilly said locals had approached him over their concerns and that he is opposed to the hotel in its current form “due to its height and density”.
His submission is one of over 40 lodged with the council.
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