Archer's garage on Fenian Street, built in the late 1940s during the romantic era of motoring in Ireland, was demolished over the bank holiday weekend. It had been scheduled for protection on List 1 of the new city plan, adopted last March.
Mr Sean Carey, deputy city manager in charge of Dublin Corporation's planning and development department, told The Irish Times last night that those responsible would find themselves "landed in the courts" over the demolition.
He said the corporation was treating the matter very seriously because it involved the demolition of a List 1 building and fully intended to prosecute those involved.
The architects involved on the site expressed surprise at the demolition. They had been working on plans for an office development on the largely derelict site, where the former garage was the only surviving building.
The head partner of the architectural firm said he had become aware only yesterday morning that it was gone after he had driven past the site and he was still "feeling a bit stunned" by what had happened.
He said there was some confusion over whether Archer's was listed. It had been on List 2 in the 1991 city plan, then it was "de-listed" in the new draft published last year and finally upgraded to List 1 in response to representations from the Dublin Civic Trust.
Mr Ian Lumley, the trust's project manager, said Archer's garage, which had been in use until recently by EWL Electric, was "one of the few significant Modern Movement buildings of the mid-20th century in Dublin and, on that basis, it merited List 1 status".
Under new planning legislation currently before the Dail, it is proposed to increase the maximum term of imprisonment for the illegal demolition of listed buildings from two to five years. The maximum fine of £1 million remains unchanged.
