A company of developer Michael O’Flynn is challenging a tenant’s proposed move on planning grounds.

Law firm Ronan Daly Jermyn is planning to move from an office on South Mall in the centre of Cork to a building in Mahon business and technology park in the city’s suburbs.

Melbourne Developments, a company connected to Mr O’Flynn and the law firm’s landlord, has formally asked the city council to declare that using the building in Mahon as a solicitors’ office contravenes its planning permission.

The argument is based on the grounds that neither the park’s zoning, nor the planning permission for the building to which the firm is moving, allows it to be used for large-scale professional offices. The claim also makes the point that the Cork City Development Plan singles out the city centre and specifically the South Mall as a location for professional offices. The same plan argues that Mahon should only be used for small-scale, local offices.

It is understood the fundamental issue is a fear that a number of larger professional firms are gearing up to move out of the city centre. Ronan Daly Jermyn is the biggest law firm outside Dublin, with more than 100 staff.

Local planners and landlords fear that if it were to move to a suburban office, it would lead to an exodus of such operations from the centre. The issue will be raised at a council meeting in the next two weeks.