Council rejects Conor McGregor's Howth hotel plans as resident fears 'Ibiza parties'

Gordon Deegan

Fingal County Council has refused planning permission for a boutique-style hotel in Howth which had been proposed by a company owned by mixed martial artist (MMA) Conor McGregor.

The council refused permission to G Boppers Ltd for the 35-bedroom hotel after local opposition. One local woman raised concerns that the hotel could be an Ibiza-style party venue on the site of the Waterside Bar in the village.

G Boppers Ltd was seeking planning to demolish the bar and build a terraced hotel, rising to five storeys in part.

The scheme was to include a pub and restaurant and bedrooms on the upper floors including a 122sq m residents’ terrace area.

In a refusal on two grounds, the council concluded that the proposal “would interfere with the character of the landscape or with a view or prospect of special amenity value or natural interest or beauty”.

The council also found that the development proposal would adversely affect an architectural conservation area (ACA) and contravene the Fingal county development plan.

The council refused the scheme on these grounds after finding that there was an absence of a high-quality architectural approach to justify demolishing an existing significant building within the ACA taken in conjunction with the design, scale, mass and height of the planned hotel.

The most recent accounts for G Boppers Ltd show that, in 2022, McGregor Sports and Entertainment Ltd provided €2.24 million in interest-free funding to the firm. During the same period, G Boppers Ltd acquired land and buildings with a book value of €2.08 million.

A design report lodged with the application by Cathal O’Neill + Company Architects contended that the scheme “seeks to make appropriate use of the site which has been underutilised for many years and to provide guest accommodation which is sorely needed in the area”.

Advancing the case for the hotel, architect Garrett O’Neill said: “We believe the proposed hotel use is respectful of the scale and massing of the existing townscape and integrates well with the urban grain.”

However, local resident Monica Lambert told the council that she strongly objected “to the unprecedented large roof garden/beer garden”.

She said: “While it is softly couched as a garden for residents it will without doubt be used as a beer and party garden reminiscent of Ibiza parties.”

In total, the council received 19 third-party submissions.