Owner of Castle Suite apartments in Dublin contests Council refusal to allow short term lets

Gordon Deegan

The owner of 10 apartments available for short-term rent near Dublin Castle is contesting a planning refusal to allow the apartments to continue to be available for short-term let.

This follows Olympia Real Estate Ltd lodging an appeal with An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) against Dublin City Council’s refusal to allow the planning retention of the apartments for short-term letting.

One of the Dublin Castle Suite apartments facing onto Dame Street and Parliament Street is available for €255 this coming Thursday on booking.com, while those looking to book an apartment on the more in-demand date of Friday, September 19th, on Airbnb will pay €474.

If Olympia Real Estate Ltd is unable to overturn the City Council's refusal, the property owners face plummeting rental revenues, where the apartments would be available for long-term letting only.

In its decision, the City Council pointed out that there is a general presumption in the City Development Plan against the provision of dedicated short-term tourist rental accommodation in the city due to the impact on the availability of housing stock.

Now, in the appeal lodged with drawn up by planning consultants, Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, it states that the application "has been subject to public scrutiny and criticism on the basis of eroding permanent housing structure”.

In the appeal, Director at Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, Eamonn Prenter states that "this has been unfounded as the premises are inherently of unsuited to permanent residential occupation and the premises clearly lend themselves because of their location and noise environment to short term lets.”

Mr Prenter states that “our client will accept a planning condition limiting the use of these premises specifically to tourism as the provision of tourism infrastructure is supported in Dublin City Council Development Plan 2022 to 2028”.

Mr Prenter states that while there is a general policy presumption against short-term lets, “there is no absolute prohibition in policy terms”.

Mr Prenter adds that an exception to the general presumption is where environmental conditions and noise conditions, in particular, are not conducive to a reasonable standard of living for permanent occupancy.

The appeal also states that further noise assessments have been undertaken for additional units within the appeal premises that demonstrate that all units would fail to meet the noise standards in place nationally.

The appeal states that “the statutorily protected status of the buildings prevents works to sufficiently suppress noise ingress especially at night and in the early hours of the morning”.

Mr Prenter further states that there are exceptional reasons why the building and location are unsuited to permanent accommodation, including access, neighbourliness and antisocial behaviour.

A decision is due by ACP in January 2026.