A judge more than doubled the rent on a 1,300 sq ft auction room on Dublin's north quays yesterday. The landlord, Mr William Flynn, asked the Circuit Civil Court to set the rent following a breakdown in negotiations with his tenant, Town and Country Auctioneers and Estate Agents (Ireland), in relation to the premises at Ormond Quay Upper.
Town and Country had been paying a rent of £10,000 a year, and Mr Flynn was seeking £30,000.
After hearing the auction room was situated close to Capel Street, an area which "lagged behind" in the central Dublin retail stakes, Judge Devally told Ms Emily Egan, counsel for Mr Flynn, he would set the annual rent at £21,500.