Plan for homes and youth centre at Dolphin’s Barn

Plans for the redevelopment of the corner site at the junction of Dolphin’s Barn and South Circular Road are moving ahead, with the delivery of a new community space and 26 public homes within three years.

The high-profile site right on a busy corner in the southwest inner city has been sitting derelict for years. Dublin City Council has aimed to develop the site by bringing in a charitable body to help fast-track the application.

“If it had gone on the general development list in Dublin City Council, it could’ve sat there for another five years untouched,” Dublin City Councillor Darragh Moriarty (Labour) said. “So, we went to an Approved Housing Body and the Iveagh Trust were chosen as the preferred developer.

“At the latest committee meeting, the Iveagh Trust confirmed that the timeline for this development is to be delivered by late 2024 or early 2025, at the very latest.

“They also presented our Dublin South Central area committee with the detailed drawings for the build.”

The Iveagh Trust is an independent non-profit housing charity that is the oldest provider of social housing in Ireland, building communities in the country since 1890. The Trust has partnered with Shay Architecture for this project.

The ground floor space plan is to include a youth centre, which is not exclusive to residents of the apartments and can be used by local people.

“I pushed for a community space on the ground floor with the council as opposed to leaving it for commercial use. I put down a motion at committee level to say that this is a prime location in Dolphin’s Barn village for a youth centre,” Moriarty said.

“Looking at Dolphin’s Barn now, it’s somewhere that people pass through without ever spending time there, so this will be an important development for the area. Having somewhere people can go and socialise and spend time with their friends is great use of the space.”

The site has been under council ownership for a long time.

“An agreement was reached with a developer back in 2015 for new apartments that were to be developed within 18 months. However, this group did nothing, so the council had to take the site back,” Moriarty said.