Group behind proposed Cork gaming arcade wins appeal over opening hours

The group behind a proposed gaming arcade in Cobh has won an appeal against planning conditions that would have limited its closing time to 8pm.

In December 2025, Wonderboy Amusements Ltd were granted conditional permission for the construction of a four-storey building at West Beach and Rahilly St at Kilgarvan in Cobh.

The development includes a gaming/amusement arcade at ground floor level, with two one-bedroom apartments at first floor level, and two two-bedroom duplex apartments at second and third floor levels. 

Access to the gaming/amusement arcade would be provided via an entrance on West Beach, while access to the apartments in the upper floors would be via a separate entrance onto Rahilly St.

Cork County Council imposed 18 conditions when granting permission for the development, including noise restrictions and rules specific to the gaming floor.

Two of those conditions limited the arcade permission to five years and restricted opening hours to between 10am and 8pm. Wonderboy Amusements appealed the conditional permission to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which has now directed Cork County Council to scale back the restrictions.

The appeals body ruled the opening hours for the gaming/amusement arcade should be expanded to 10am-10pm.

The planning authority said: “It is considered that the principle of development is acceptable at this location on lands zoned for town centre uses in the Cork County Development Plan 2022-2028 where commercial and leisure services are appropriate uses and the proposed development is in accordance with County Development Plan Objective TCR 9-1: Town Centres which supports evening and night-time use.”

In regards to limiting the gaming/amusement arcade permission to five years, An Coimisiún Pleanála stated that this condition should be removed.