Dublin City Council called on to buy apartment block where tenants face eviction

Dublin City Council (DCC) has been called on to consider purchasing an apartment block where residents in 30 apartments have been served eviction notices.

Last month residents living in Tathony House, a three-storey apartment complex in Kilmainham, Dublin 8, were served notices to vacate the property by the start of next June, as the owner wishes to sell the building.

Speaking at a monthly DCC meeting on Monday, Sinn Féin Cllr Máire Devine petitioned council officials to consider buying the property for use as cost-rental or social housing, to allow current tenants remain in place.

John Lyons, Independent Left councillor, said many residents in the property, owned by Tathony Holdings Ltd, would be “facing homelessness” due to the eviction notices.

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Coilín O’Reilly, DCC assistant chief executive for housing, said the local authority’s options were “extremely limited” in the case.

The council would engage with the Department of Housing, residents and Approved Housing Bodies on the issue, but DCC had to operate within the law and Government policy.

Mr O’Reilly said he was “concerned at setting a precedent” if the council stepped in to try to buy the property.

“These are private people living in private accommodation and if we start stepping into this space, private developers could see it as an opportunity ... [saying] ‘if I just evict everybody the council will step in,’” he said.

The official said the situation facing those living in Tathony House was “unfortunate and harrowing”.

Three households living in the building had applied and qualified for social housing and would be supported, he said.

Earlier in the meeting councillors voted to add six buildings on Moore Street in Dublin city associated with a 1916 Rising battlefield site to the Record of Protected Structures (RPS).

The buildings are due for demolition or partial demolition under plans to redevelop the area by UK property group Hammerson, who objected to their inclusion on the protected structures list. The 5.5 acre site stretches from the old Carlton cinema on O’Connell Street to Moore Street, Henry Street and Parnell Street.

Mícheál MacDonncha, a Sinn Féin councillor, said giving the buildings protected status was a “long overdue” move by the council. The vote marked a “significant step forward in efforts to save this historic quarter of our city”, he said.

Green Party councillor Donna Cooney also welcomed the vote, which followed a long campaign to protect the buildings. “We now recognise that these buildings are significant and worthy to be protected for future generations,” she said.

Fine Gael councillor Paddy McCartan, said he was concerned about a potential legal challenge following the council decision.

Mr McCartan queried what the legal status of the protection would be if An Bord Pleanála (ABP) gave “the go ahead” for development on the site.

John O’Hara, a DCC planning officer, said after the buildings were approved as protected structures ABP would be required to “take that into account” when ruling on future planning applications to redevelop the site.

The official said adding the buildings to the record of protected structures would contribute to the “rejuvenation” of the area in Dublin city centre.

The buildings are 10 and 20/21 Moore Street and the walls between 12 and 13 Moore Street, the ground floor facades of 17-18 Henry Place, and the O’Brien’s Mineral Water Building at 4-8 Henry Place.