Legal issues keeping Iveagh Market off derelict register

Despite the Iveagh Market buildings having been left in disrepair for years, Dublin City Council have said that due to “legal issues relating to ownership of the buildings”, they are unable to add it to the Derelict Sites register.

The Iveagh Market is an indoor market located in Francis Street in the Liberties. It was built by the Iveagh Trust in 1902.

The markets were first leased to businessman Martin Keane by the council in 1997, but “legal issues” meant the formalities were not completed, says a 2004 council report. 

The buildings have been left since 1997 to become littered with rubbish, overgrown with plants and with considerable damage, which means it adheres to the definition of a derelict site according to the Derelict Sites Act 1990.

Dublin City Council told the Liberty that they are “actively pursuing the most efficient means available to it to ensure that the Iveagh Market Building is refurbished and returned to beneficial use” and that they are awaiting Keane’s comments before “taking further action”.

In 2017, local councillors voted to take over ownership of the markets after years of stalled redevelopment. At the time, Keane said he would “go to war” over the building. 

A report commissioned by the council earlier this year found that more than €13 million is needed to carry out “essential structural repairs” on the structure on Francis Street. The report also branded the site “unsafe” and in an “advanced state of dereliction”.