Plans to borrow up to €100 million in an attempt to meet the spiralling cost of the Parnell Square cultural quarter project, now expected to exceed €173 million, have been approved by Dublin city councillors.
Plans for the project, involving the development of a new city library and the renovation of adjacent buildings including the Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square North, were unveiled in 2013 with a €60 million price tag.
It would see the former Christian Brothers School, Coláiste Mhuire, converted and extended to become the main city library and conference centre; renovations and reuse of several buildings along the northside of Parnell Square; a new public plaza linking the library and the Hugh Lane Gallery; and a redesign of the northern end of the park linking to the Garden of Remembrance.
The Parnell Square Foundation, a partnership between the council and US real-estate investment company Kennedy Wilson, was set up to develop the project. Kennedy Wilson agreed to lead the effort to raise private donations which would fully fund the project, due to be completed by 2017.
RM Block
However, in 2016 it emerged the expected costs had risen to €100 million. The council subsequently agreed to contribute 45 per cent of the cost, using a loan from the European Investment Bank, with the remainder to be funded through donations. The target opening date was pushed out to 2020.
When permission was finally granted for the project by An Bord Pleanála in May 2019, the cost had risen to €110 million, with a new completion date of 2023. Two months later it emerged that Kennedy Wilson had not secured financial backing for the scheme, and its involvement in the project ended.
The then council chief executive, Owen Keegan, determined the best course of action was to scale back the project, with the library and essential repairs and renovations to some of the Georgian buildings and the Hugh Lane Gallery, being pursued as “phase one” at a cost of about €80 million. The cost of phase one was revised to €140 million in late 2023.
Councillors were told on Monday that the projected cost of phase one has risen to €173.2 million. The council had sought Government funding under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) of just over €121 million to cover the project, but had been awarded just €60.4 million.
The council will make a further URDF bid in the hope of boosting this funding pot to just over €113.5 million, councillors were told. However, there was no guarantee this would be successful.
“If the full funding amount of €113,548,753 sought under the URDF is not approved, the city council will be required to address the resulting funding shortfall, and there will be a requirement to borrow from 2027 onwards,” a report to councillors said.
“Accordingly, the approval of the city council is sought to borrow up to €100 million, on a phased basis, to fund Dublin City Council’s potential contribution to the project.”
The council hopes to start work on the project in the coming months, with a target of completion of phase one by the third quarter of 2030. No timeline or funding estimate has been set for phase two, which would include the public plaza and the redesign of the Garden of Remembrance.
Councillors across the parties on the council and Independents spoke in favour of the project and the borrowing plan was agreed to without a vote.
