Plan for O’Connell Street restaurant approved, but it is banned from serving takeaways

A new restaurant being planned for Ulster Bank’s former O’Connell Street branch in Dublin will be barred from operating any takeaway food service.Kingstonway Limited, the new owners of 2-4 O’Connell Street Lower, applied for planning permission to convert the building into a mixed-use restaurant, retail and office development.Dublin City Council has now granted the company permission to convert part of the old bank into a restaurant, but said it “shall not operate as a takeaway (an outlet that sells hot food for consumption off the premises)”.In its planning application, the company said it had interest from an international restaurant operator to occupy part of the building, but did not clarify if this operator wanted to provide takeaway services.READ MORELongstanding concerns have been aired by city councillors about the concentration of fast-food outlets on O’Connell Street, from which about a dozen provide takeaway services.The pushback on new takeaway food businesses on O’Connell Street by the council has come as US takeaway brands, including Popeyes, Wingstop, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Wendy’s and Taco Bell, are expanding into the Irish market.In 2024, a Dublin City Taskforce led by former An Post chief executive David McRedmond said the Government needed to “revitalise O’Connell Street and environs” through the use of the Special Planning Control Scheme (SPCS).Microsoft president Brad Smith: Ireland is “well-positioned for future of AI”There are two SPCS in place at present in central Dublin, which cover Grafton Street, O’Connell Street and their surrounding areas.The SPCS set out a number of policies and objectives on architectural conservation, property uses, building heights, advertising signs and shopfronts, vacancy and civic identity.In its decision to approve the new O’Connell Street restaurant, the city council cited the SPCS for the area as its reason for banning takeaway services from the venue. The project to revamp the old Ulster Bank branch is being led by the building’s owners, Kingstonway Limited. The company is linked to eShopWorld founder Tommy Kelly and former BidX1 chief executive Stephen McCarthy.Kelly, whose wealth has been estimated to be about €1 billion, made a large amount of his fortune from the €600 million sale of ecommerce company eShopWorld. Following the sale in 2021, he has made a number of investments in property and businesses through CastleGate Investments, including a deal to acquire estate agent Sherry Fitzgerald.Kelly and McCarthy’s plans for 2-4 O’Connell Street Lower have come a year after the building was put up for sale by Ulster Bank at a guide price of €2.75 million.The restaurant planned would take up 734sq m across the basement, ground and mezzanine levels of the refurbished building, with 941sq m of office space on the upper floors.The plans for the building align with a recommendation from the Dublin City Taskforce, which called for more mixed-use buildings on O’Connell Street, including residential, hospitality, cultural and night-time use alongside the existing retail and commercial usage.A multiyear programme, in partnership with private landlords, to revitalise O’Connell Street and adjoining streets was also required to foster “development of the area as a cultural hub”, the taskforce said.