Ireland round-up: Budget boosts housing and green infrastructure; Green light for Donnybrook hotel

Budget boosts housing and green infrastructure

The Republic’s latest budget will see spending on housing and green infrastructure boosted, as well as expenditure to make the country’s housing and building stock more energy efficient. Tourism and rural development will also enjoy extra help while peatland restoration and tree planting are set to rise.

The Planner

Green light for Donnybrook hotel

A leading Munster-based hotel group has been given the go-ahead for a €50 million 169-bedroom five-star hotel on the site of a former seminary in the Dublin suburb of Donnybrook, following a successful appeal to An Bord Pleanála after the city council refused the project.

Irish Times

County Cork wind farm looms

Coillte Renewable Energy and SSE Renewables are working up proposals for a 72-megawatt wind farm earmarked for a 710-hectare site at Gortyrahilly, County Cork, close to the Cork-Kerry border.

Irish Independent

Bunclody conservation area proposal

An Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) has been proposed for Bunclody town centre as part of the draft Wexford County Development Plan, which is now in its public consultation phase.

Irish Independent

Capital’s Pearse House set for major makeover

Pearse House, one of Dublin’s oldest social housing flat complexes, which was earmarked for demolition two years ago, is to undergo a major refurbishment and retrofitting programme.

Irish Times

OPR sets out research programme

The Office of the Planning Regulator has published its first planning research framework and the accompanying strategic planning research programme.

OPR

Dublin betting office blocked

The city council has turned down plans to convert the last remaining café on Dublin’s Moore Street into a betting office.

Irish Times

Coffee firm to plant trees

An Irish coffee company has spent close to €200,000 on 12 hectares of land in County Limerick. It will be used to plant trees in a sustainability drive.

Irish Independent

Top tower for Cork approved

Cork City Council has backed proposals for a major mixed-use development on Custom House Quay, which will include a 34-storey tower complex. At 140 metres high, it is set to become Ireland's tallest building.

Irish Independent