DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has told the developer of the Quinn’s pub site in Drumcondra that land once earmarked for apartments beside the famous drinking spot will be declared derelict in the coming weeks.

The council has notified Discipulo Developments Limited that it intends to add the site at 48B-50A on the Lower Drumcondra Road to the derelict sites register.

The company is part-owned by restaurateur Jay Bourke, and is currently redeveloping Quinn’s following a failed attempt to develop a build-to-rent apartment complex and shops on the site in 2021.

Last year, Dublin City Council extended permission for the construction of a two- to four-storey building for student accommodation at the site beside the pub instead.

The site was previously home to a betting shop and a fast food restaurant, which have since been demolished.

However, construction of student accommodation on the land has not yet commenced, and the council issued a notice to Discipulo this week notifying the company that it would be added to the Derelict Sites Register.

Each local authority keeps a register of such sites, which comprises a list of addresses of sites that are subject to the annual levy of 7% of their market value.

The levy continues to apply until the site is no longer deemed derelict while unpaid levies attract interest of 1.25% per month.

If necessary, local authorities can take the landowner to court to recover this amount or compulsorily purchase the site from its owner.

The sites are also publicly listed on local authority websites.

The site as seen from Saint Alphonsus Avenue The Journal The Journal

In 2021, Discipulo sought to demolish the pub and adjoining buildings on the entire site, but the council ruled that the pub, which was once owned by the bankrupt billionaire businessman Seán Quinn, was “a building of architectural and social significance”.

Discipulo had claimed the development would bring an existing inaccessible site back into productive use for both residential and retail purposes.

It appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála but was again refused permission to demolish the pub in 2022.

The company has since sought external investors to renovate the pub with a view to re-opening it early in 2025.

Quinn’s was placed on the market in 2019 by the liquidators of IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank with an asking price of €2m.