Who owns the historic Iveagh Market that has been abandoned in the heart of Dublin’s freedoms for the past 20 years?
Dublin City Council and hotelier Martin Keane have been in and out of court to try to claim it since 2008.
But Arthur Edward Rory Guinness, the fourth Earl of Iveagh, whose family built the iconic market in the early 1900s, has now put the cat among the pigeons by invoking a clause contained in the original 1906 deeds to get it back. The locks were changed yesterday, a new security company was installed to secure them, and both Dublin City Council and Martin Keane spent yesterday consulting with their own legal advisers to establish where they were, which appeared to be out of place.
Mr Keane, owner of the Blooms Hotel and Oliver St John Gogarty pub in Temple Bar, told the Irish independent he was in meetings with lawyers when he was contacted.
Dublin City Council issued a statement confirming the legal chess move made by Lord Iveagh, through his agent Paul Smithwick.
“On 8 December Lord Iveagh’s representatives notified Dublin City Council that Lord Iveagh had invoked the ‘reversion’ clause contained in the original deed of transfer dated 7/17/1906 (Lord Iveagh to Dublin Corporation),” he said.
“The council was informed that since the Iveagh Market building has been out of use as a market for a considerable number of years, Lord Iveagh, in accordance with the terms contained in the deed of transfer, has taken back ownership and notified the city hall accordingly. The council is considering the matter with its legal advisors, ”he added.
The Iveagh Market took four years to build before opening in 1906. It was built by the Iveagh Trust as part of the Guinness Trust, which was founded in 1890 by Edward Guinness, the first Earl of Iveagh.
The locals in the area around the once ornate Edwardian red brick have long sought the market to develop rather than slide into decline.
They were celebrating yesterday when news of Lord Iveagh’s recovery movement leaked through the Liberties, thankful that someone took the bull by the horns.
The ongoing dispute between the city council and Mr. Keane dates back to 2008 when Iveagh Market Hotels Limited, a company controlled by Mr. Keane, signed a contract with the Dublin City Council to remodel the site.
The plan was to turn the site into a European-style food hall with restaurants, a distillery, brewery and craft workshops, and a deposit of nearly € 2 million was paid to DCC.
It was talked about as the Dublin version of London’s Covent Garden.
But the lack of work on the site caused it to sink further into neglect, while the planning permission granted to Mr. Keane expired.
In company accounts subsequently submitted by Iveagh Market Hotels, it was noted that “a number of site and facility related legal title issues have been ongoing since the contract date and these legal title issues have yet to be resolved. fully resolved. “
The accounts, completed at the end of 2017, revealed that at the time of the signing of the financial statements, ownership of the premises and the site was still in the hands of the city council and “therefore, legal ownership has not yet been transferred to the company and don’t do it until development is complete. “
Frustrated by the lack of development and not convinced that Mr. Keane’s company could obtain the necessary funding, the board threatened Mr. Keane with legal action if he did not lose control of the Iveagh market.
DCC Deputy Executive Director Richard Shakespeare told council members in January that the council had informed Keane of its decision.
“Mr. Keane was asked to provide evidence that he had sufficient funds available to deliver the project in a timely manner,” he said in a letter addressed to DCC members. “The documentation provided to date does not convince the council that it has obtained adequate funding.
“The council has written to Mr. Keane to advise him that it is ending all communication with him and that it is taking the necessary steps to regain ownership of him.
“The city council will defend this action in court if necessary,” he said.
And that’s where the matter essentially got bogged down within the courts until Lord Iveagh swooped in yesterday with the reversion clause outlined in the 1906 deeds.
He told RTÉ that the mandate of the 1st Earl of Iveagh, who built the market, was to get the poor shopkeepers off the streets and house them.
Local People Before Profit Councilor Tina McVeigh said Paul Smithwick, acting on behalf of Lord Iveagh, told locals that the building had been bequeathed to the people of Dublin through the control of the local authority, but when the building not used, Iveagh got it back.
“It has given local residents a sense of hope,” he said, adding that the five local representatives would seek a report from DCC at an area committee meeting to be held last night.
It is estimated that it would cost around € 13 million to carry out essential structural repairs on the building and € 40 million to restore it to its former glory.