MIRROR MIRROR on the wall, who has the biggest of them all? Financier Derek Quinlan might yet win that prize on Shrewsbury Road because Dublin City Council has granted him permission to turn two houses on the road into one massive home.

The council has said he can amalgamate 1 and 3 Shrewsbury Rd, D4, which he bought in 2006 for a reported €27m. As well as linking the houses, he wants to build three extensions and add a basement, making it a seven-bed of 1,951sq m (21,000sq ft) – nearly double the size of the French ambassador’s home. But given that the residents of Shrewsbury are known to guard the integrity of property on the road with a zeal that would put An Taisce to shame, Quinlan may have to face An Bord Pleanála. Quinlan’s bid to build on the site has been ongoing for a number of years. His original plan was to demolish numbers 1 and 3, and build a palatial seven-bed mansion with a two-storey mews.