Iveagh markets reopening delayed until 2018

The long-awaited reopening of the beautiful Iveagh Market on Francis Street will have to wait a little longer.

In an exclusive interview with The Liberty, developer Martin Keane, himself a Liberties lad, revealed that he hopes to have the €90 million development, complete with artisan-food stalls, hotel, pub and apartments, open to the public in the spring of 2018.

Martin Keane

In January, the Irish Times reported that the project would be completed in 2017.

The huge late-Victorian market hall has sat empty since the 1990s, after many years as a mainstay of Liberties life.

Archaeological and preparatory work is being completed and Keane plans to have the diggers on site this summer.

Iveagh Market architect elevation drawing

Keane said more than 500 people could be employed in construction, with a similar number employed on site when the project is completed.

A brewery and distillery are among his plans for a development that has its eyes firmly on the tourists who, these days, mostly just pass through the Liberties on their way to the Guinness Storehouse.

The work will stretch beyond the market building itself all the way to Back Lane and the site of the old Mother Redcap’s pub and market.

Often compared to Covent Garden, Keane says he models his vision for the site on Quincy Market in Boston.

The site will include a performance venue that will be open to local schoolchildren, Keane said.

“The idea down the line is that we get in touch with a lot of schools and we give them the opportunity to come and perform and get a half-day off school,” he told The Liberty.