DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has confirmed that the historic Iveagh Markets in Dublin 8 have been repossessed by Lord Iveagh. 

The long-running saga over the future of the redbrick market building on Francis Street has taken a new twist after the Council was informed today that Lord Iveagh – who is a descendant of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh - had invoked the ‘Reverter’ clause contained in the original Deed of Conveyance from 1906. 

Ownership of the markets has been disputed for several years. Businessman Martin Keane was granted planning permission for The Iveagh Markets redevelopment in 2007 after agreeing a long-term leasehold agreement with the Council in 1997. The planning permission lapsed in 2017, however. 

In December 2019, Keane lodged a new planning application for the Markets’ redevelopment. 

Earlier this year, the Council said it planned to repossess The Iveagh Markets in Dublin 8 after years of stalled redevelopment. It later declared a planning permission lodged by Keane to refurbish the markets invalid.

A spokesperson for the Council told TheJournal.ie that “as the Iveagh Market building has ceased to be used as a market for a considerable number of years, Lord Iveagh has, in accordance with the terms contained in the Deed of Conveyance, repossessed the property this morning and notified the Council accordingly.”

“The Council is considering the matter with its legal advisors,” they said. 

It is understood the locks have now been changed on the building and that a new security team is in place. 

According to RTÉ, which first reported the development, there are plans to restore the building to its original market use.

A DCC-commissioned report last September said that more than €13 million would be needed to carry out “essential structural repairs” on the historic red-brick structure, which has gradually deteriorated in recent years. 

The Local Area Plan (LAP) for the Liberties, adopted by the council in May 2009 (and extended in 2014 until May 2020), states that the Iveagh Markets “with its distinctive character …will become a destination shopping district when it opens”. 

In 2017, local Councillors voted to take over ownership of the markets, located in the Liberties and built by the Iveagh Trust in 1906. 

Mr Keane has been contacted for comment.