Council says yes to 13-storey tower beside Tara Towers:Developer O'Mahony Finnerty New Homes has been granted planning permission by Dublin City Council for a 13-storey apartment block next to the Tara Towers Hotel on the Merrion Road in Dublin 4.
The development will accommodate 48 apartments on the site of the former Shell petrol station which was sold for around €16 million in April last year.
O'Mahony Finnerty previously undertook a development of detached houses at Chamley Park, Malahide.
Permission granted for homes at synagogue site in Rathmines
The Trustees of the Jewish Home of Ireland have been granted planning permission by Dublin City Council for a residential development on the site of a nursing home and synagogue in Rathmines, Dublin 6, despite opposition from locals.
The development at Effra Road and to the rear of 2-5 Le Bas Terrace on Leinster Road West will also involve the partial demolition of the synagogue and a Jewish nursing home at 6 Le Bas Terrace. It will comprise 19 residential units in three blocks, including five three-storey townhouses, four mews houses and 10 apartments in a three-storey block.
The development attracted widespread objections from residents groups, and individuals living on Effra Road and Leinster Road. They say the development is too dense for the area, the quality of apartments is poor and the height of townhouses on Effra Road would cause overshadowing, and that the architecture is out of character with the local area. Some commented on how the development would impact on the historic significance of the Jewish Home of Ireland.
The Jewish population in Dublin has fallen from its postwar peak of 5,000 to under 1,000 today. In 2004 Terenure Hebrew Congregation was granted permission for an apartment development and a replacement synagogue at Rathfarnham Road, Dublin 6W. The original 1952-built synagogue was too large for its needs and the new synagogue at Leoville was built for two amalgamated Orthodox Jewish congregations. Members of the congregation told The Irish Times that revenue from the apartments would contribute towards the running costs of the new synagogue.
Another Dublin synagogue at Adelaide Road closed in 1999 after 107 years. It served what was once Ireland's largest Jewish population on the South Circular Road. It sold for around €7.87 million to Galway Developer Frank O'Malley.
