Tech entrepreneur wins planning battle over demolition of €7.5m Dalkey home

A multimillionaire tech entrepreneur and his wife have won a planning battle over the demolition of their €7.5 million home in Dalkey, Co Dublin. An Coimisiún Pleanála granted planning permission to Barry and Andrea Napier for the retention of the demolition of the existing dwelling, and the reconstruction of the house to its original design at Rarc-An-Ilan, Coliemore Road, Dalkey.In June, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council refused the Napiers’ application for retention and planning permission for the reconstruction. The case came before the planning commission following the Napiers appealing the decision in July.Napier is the founder and former chief executive of software firm Cubic3. In December 2023, Napier signed a deal to sell a controlling stake in Cubic3 to Japanese lender Softbank for €473 million, netting Napier and his fellow shareholders a multimillion euro payout in the process.READ MOREThe Napiers purchased the four-bedroomed Dalkey home for €7.5 million in June 2024.In its ruling, An Coimisiún Pleanála found that due to the poor structural and uninhabitable condition of the dwelling that was demolished, there was a strong justification for demolition and replacement and it would not seriously injure the visual or residential amenities of the area or of properties in the vicinity.The commission’s ruling comes almost 18 months after the Napiers in April 2025 secured a “parent” planning permission from the council to upgrade their home at Rarc-An-Ilan. The upgrade involved the demolition of a single-storey extension to the side and rear; a two-storey garage and apartment; a lower ground floor garden room and a terrace to the rear.The 229sq m (2,464sq ft) dwelling was to be left intact and planning consultants for the Napiers, Thornton O’Connor Town Planning, explained that the complete demolition of all structures “was undertaken as a result of severe subsurface constraints discovered only after works commenced with associated urgent health and safety concerns for contractors”.The council refused the Napiers’ planning retention in June, finding a strong justification was not provided for the demolition of the dwelling.An Coimisiún Pleanála’s inspector in the case, Killian Harrington, recommended that planning retention and permission be granted.Harrington carried out a site visit on August 22nd and recorded that there were ”currently no structures remaining on site” following the demolition of the dwelling.In his report, Harrington said it was “clear from the submitted engineers report that the existing house was in very poor condition and was both structurally unsound and uninhabitable”. The inspector said he agreed with the Napiers “that this could only have been revealed as the works were undertaken and materials exposed”. He said: “As such, I would agree with the conclusions that its demolition and replacement is justified in this instance.”