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Old Dublin Town

Full restoration of Dublin's Iveagh Market expected to cost €23 million

The Guinness family, now in a legal dispute with businessman Martin Keane, wants to restore the market to its former glory.

THE RESTORATION OF Dublin’s Iveagh Market to a working market is expected to cost around €23 million and is not likely to be completed for at least four years.

The market, built in 1902 by Lord Iveagh, Edward Cecil Guinness, has been derelict for more than 20 years and is the subject of an ongoing legal dispute.

Late last year the Guinness family took back possession of the historical market in the latest twist in an ongoing ownership saga. The current Lord Iveagh, Edward Guinness, wants to restore the market to its former glory with space for food and clothes stalls, coffee shops, art displays and pop-up shops. 

Paul Smithwick, who represents Lord Iveagh, told TheJournal.ie that the cost of restoring the structure to a working market is likely to be around €23 million. 

However he said the building is secured now and some external work has already taken place. 

“Over the last couple of months lots of interim works have been done, removing debris and getting everything painted up outside to generate interest and show that something is happening,” he said. “We’ve also covered in a number of major holes in the open area.”

The horse and cart yard of the Iveagh Market has already got a new lease of life this year, with a number of food stalls operating in the space.

“No alcohol can be served at the moment but we’ll be applying for a licence in the district court within the next 10 days,” Smithwick said. “We were terribly careful to make sure we didn’t go too fast too soon and end up with enormous crowds because of the pandemic.” 

He said materials are also now being removed from inside the building to improve fire safety. 

Just last weekend there was a minor fire at the Iveagh Market, which Smithwick said occurred after water got into the switchboard. 

 Ownership dispute

Following a viewing earlier this month organised by the Liberties Cultural Association, there were calls for swift action to be taken to ensure the space is preserved and restored. 

Speaking to The Journal after the viewing Graham Hickey, conservation director at the Dublin Civic Trust, said the structure is now “heavily decayed”.

“A major problem with the building is the amount of water ingress over the years, all of the outside brick has become saturated,” he said.

That type of Edwardian brick, Portmarnock brick it’s called, has a glazed face, a ceramic-type face and so many of those have exploded off the brick. There’s only so much repair mortar you can use on bricks of that kind, probably a lot of the brick will have to be replaced, which is a great shame.

“It’s very sad to see that level of deterioration, I saw one or two of the photos and it’s really quite shocking.”

The key delay to the commencement of extensive restoration work inside the building is the ownership dispute. 

For over 75 years, Iveagh Markets housed a large number of Dublin’s traders under a 99-year lease agreement between the Guinness family and Dublin Corporation.

The Guinness’ agreed to lease it to Dublin Corporation provided it be used solely as a market for Dublin 8 locals.

In the mid-1990s, Dublin City Council said it was looking for a developer to redevelop the dilapidated Iveagh Markets.

Businessman Martin Keane was granted planning permission for a redevelopment in 2007 after agreeing a 500-year leasehold with DCC in 1997. The council later announced its intention to repossess the building as two separate planning permissions had lapsed and Keane failed to raise finance for development.

A third planning application by Keane was refused by the council on the basis that he was not the legal owner, and he launched a High Court case.

The Guinness family got involved in December last year, invoking a clause in the original Deed of Conveyance from 1906 which stated that the market would revert to the Guinness family if it was not developed as a market.

Keane has challenged the Guinness family’s claim to the property and the case is now before the High Court, with the next hearing due in early October. 

Paul Smithwick said the Guinness family will be seeking a quick resolution to proceedings as he said the building is in need of immediate work to ensure original features can be saved.

“The damage to the roof and everything is so advanced that with any delays in litigation the roof could come down, that’s the judgement of the architects. With another winter, piece by piece it could start to come down.”

He said the cost of fixing the roof alone is estimated at €6 million.

“It can be rescued in part, but nothing will be rescued if the whole thing falls down,” he said. 

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    Mute verbal kint
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 10:27 AM

    Never mind commendation from the Oscar’s, cant get much more of an accolade than stephen hawking saying he’s proud of you !.

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    Mute Charles McDonald
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 10:54 AM

    Seen this movie. Very good acting. Also shows the amazing strength of mind of hawking.

    A very beautiful mind

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    Mute Dave J
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 1:06 PM

    watched it two or three days ago myself. I thought it was going to be a borefest, but I found it to be an awesome movie in every respect

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    Mute Kian David Griffin
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 11:21 AM

    Wibbly, he knows himself that they contradict each other, what that proves is that he is not afraid to be wrong, he challenged his own theories (which is something a lot of commentators on here would never do!)
    Have you watched the movie? In it they show that he openly admits that he is disproving his initial theories. That is the only way to reach the conclusion he is trying to reach, to keep going one better, challenge what was previously thought (even if it was himself that thought it).

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    Mute Norma Kealy
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 1:54 PM

    My Dad has MND and I can’t bring myself to watch this film but it was brilliant to see Redmayne win .Was a lovely gesture to dedicate his Oscar to all those affected by MND……

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    Mute Conor Murphy
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 12:57 PM

    Did anyone else read the Facebook post in the computer voice?

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    Mute WibblyWobblyWonder
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 10:44 AM

    This is not going to be popular but here goes….
    I don’t believe in Stephen Hawking. I think he is the worlds greatest piss take that got out of hand and caught on. Just a poor guy in a vegetative state with an artificial voice programmed by someone else. His two alleged books contradict each other with theories that closer resemble religion than science.
    Look closer and engage your facilities and stop believing in all you are shown.

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    Mute JJ O Riordan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 10:50 AM

    You’re a special kind of stupid aren’t you, wibbly?

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    Mute ProudIrishRepublican
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 10:58 AM

    Just one question Wibbly, do you wear big boy pants yet?

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    Mute Harry byrne
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 11:07 AM

    Thanks for that Humanity Changing Theory Wibbly..Great Input!!!!!!

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    Mute Eamonn Byrne
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 11:39 AM

    I’m quite sure that they were actual books and not alleged books.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 11:48 AM

    That one’s right up there with “giraffes are a government conspiracy”. I salute you.

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 12:36 PM

    I take it you have never seen live interviews with the genius that is Hawking……you’re not a special kind of stupid. Tou and Lord of the realm of stupid…..

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    Mute Susan Adair Farrelly
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 2:53 PM

    Worlds greatest piss take that got out hand? You don’t “believe” in him? Care to explain?

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    Mute Shanti
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 5:04 PM

    There’s a reason his books contradict each other.

    The scientific principle is that you follow the evidence, wherever that leads. There’s no place for dogmatism.

    Stephen Hawking has had the sense to hold his hands up and admit when his theories are wrong.
    Hence why he doesn’t dogmatically stick to his guns.

    You seem to see this as a bad thing, but in reality it is simply proof of the fact that the man is only interested in discovering the truth.

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    Mute Louis Jacob
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 5:17 PM

    Tulip.

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    Mute Ger
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 12:44 PM

    I was smiling at the first two sentences because I thought you were being satirical. Then I realized you were being serious. Wow. Even Frank couldn’t come up with that level of nonsense.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 1:58 PM

    Don’t you mean ‘ questioning all that we do not know’, science is about facts rather than blind faith in the unknown.

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    Mute WibblyWobblyWonder
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 1:11 PM

    Hawking cannot do a live interview only one where he has been given the questions in advance so his voice system can be programmed to respond. He could not answer a basic question in real time. The interview you witnessed nearly presents the impression of being live.
    I’m not trying to be provocative but by applying the scientific principles of questioning all we know I feel it does not add up.

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 2:48 PM

    That lends to toir paranoia and not a lack of credibility on his part. You’ve no basis other than your wildly speculative imagination.

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 2:50 PM

    *your paranoi. I’m not as adept with the auld written word as Prof. Hawking

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 2:50 PM

    Oh I give up!

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    Mute Shanti
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 5:10 PM

    Wow..
    The man lost the ability to use his muscles, your tongue is a muscle too. So he lost the ability to talk. He was at an opera in Paris and had a seizure and the only way they could save him was with a tracheotomy meaning he lost what speech capabilities he had.
    He communicated for a long time by clicking around a page with one single control, because the only motion he had left was to squeeze with one hand. He doesn’t even have that anymore, and communicates with a twitch of the muscle of his cheek.

    As a result he has to type as though he only had one finger. Can you imagine how long it would take him to respond to any question?

    And yet you would use this as something to base a wild assumption about the man?
    Are you envious that they named a form of radiation after him or something?

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    Mute WibblyWobblyWonder
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 4:38 PM

    For anyone left on this thread, I find it curious that so many respond with such vehemence to somebody questioning Hawkins credibility. I suggest that the same critical analysis that caused Hawkins to revise his initial premise are applied to himself as a real genius trapped tragically inside a lifeless frame ravaged by the horror of MND or perhaps an elaborate creation of an inspiring human story of an active mind at its core that comments on all matters concerning humanity. Truely, I myself would like to believe, as I would in God and Santa.
    One final question….. If we have the technology to allow the millions of people who have this condition to communicate then why is it only used by one?

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 5:10 PM

    Vehemence? I challenged your points respectfully and you ignored them to post elsewhere with more unfounded accusations. I take it that’s what you do for fun…..

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    Mute Shanti
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 5:20 PM

    If you take issue with his text to speech module not being more widely available then surely that’s an issue you should take up with IBM?

    They use Professor Hawking as a test subject. His module is essentially the alpha test unit. And it has been used as a model to try and build similar things for other sufferers. The problem is how specific it needs to be, this makes it impossible for some to afford.

    Again, these issues are not the fault of Professor Hawking, who was broke enough himself for long enough.

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    Mute WibblyWobblyWonder
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 1:43 PM

    It may be more fruitful if all of you movie going scientists respond with a logical counterpoint rather than tin foil hat insults.
    A brief history of time published in 1988 espoused Hawkins alleged theories and became a global best seller realising millions of dollars. The world embraced him as a genius. Onwards to book 2, a briefer history of time which was also a global bestseller. Hawking ridicules his initial theories and presents New ones. Result…. Not only a genius but a brave one to admit he was wrong in the first place.
    He is one of the world’s most successful media creations and people follow him blindly.
    All I’m asking is that you all look closer and use your logic in the final analysis. A process that any scientist would encourage.

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 2:47 PM

    In order to know for sure one would have to meet with and talk to the man. Those that have consider him genuine. Your theory is nothing more than attention seeking tinfoil hattery with nothing to back it up but wild unjustified assumption.
    Ailbhe O’Nolan MSc

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    Mute Susan Adair Farrelly
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 2:57 PM

    @ wibbly Questioning and challenging theories is the cornerstone of scientific inquiry. Why do you have an issue with that?

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    Mute Ailbhe O'Nolan
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 3:10 PM

    In addition to Susans comment, finding reliable answers is part of thay cornerstone. Speculation is not a part of the scientific method. Even a basic hypothesis stems from observation, previous findings and logical extrapolation. Your theory has none of the above.

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    Mute Shanti
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 5:13 PM

    Wibbly, the scientific principle is to follow the evidence, wherever that leads. If it disproves your theory, then your theory is wrong. Clinging to it dogmatically is in no way scientific, it’s more religious.

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    Mute Liam Treacy
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    Feb 23rd 2015, 10:59 PM

    It is a great human story. The strength of the human condition.

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