Dublin City Council's Liberties aparthotel approval slammed as 'hypocrisy'

Liberties locals plan to stage further protests opposing the approval of six-storey aparthotel on Thomas Street, with one resident describing Dublin City Council as hypocrites

Add to preferred sources News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 14:26, 24 Sep 2026 View 2 Images How the proposal would look on Thomas Street

The approval of a new aparthotel in the Liberties has been described as "hypocrisy" by Liberties locals.

Welthomas Property Ltd have been granted permission for a new six-storey aparthotel at 144 Thomas Street following the rejection of an appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála. This development had been the subject of major opposition by residents and politicians, who said the cultural fabric of the Liberties was in danger of being lost amid an abundance of hotels and student accommodation.

Pauline McAdam from the Bridgefoot Street Residents Association was one local leading the campaign. She told Dublin Live that they feel “let down by Dublin City Council ” and that the decision feels hypocritical considering council-led initiatives celebrating the heritage of the Liberties.

“Every year they bang on about Culture Date with Dublin 8 and then they give these hoteliers and aparthotels permission to build in an historic area,” she said.

As it stands the site is currently a car park and Pauline highlighted its potential as a space to serve the community’s youth and provide a place of real cultural value within their neighbourhood. For over 25 years, Pauline has fought for a community centre and more green spaces in the Liberties and says that local children have no choice to play out in the roads as their parents warn them of oncoming traffic.

View 2 Images Bridgefoot Street Residents Association's Pauline McAdam and Liberties local Annette Dunne

“We feel we’re being ignored. There’s been no consultation. We just feel like we don’t matter at this stage. Dublin City Council won’t listen to our appeal, they’ve refused to meet us,” she said.

“We’re failing another generation of young people now. We feel that these hoteliers and builders just don’t care about the wider community. It’s disappointing. It’s disheartening. People are up in arms.”

Pauline said they have 27 volunteers who give up their time and put in unpaid work to ensure local children are catered to and don’t fall into drugs or criminality. She believes the site at Thomas Street was the perfect location for a community hub, but this proposal has “fallen on deaf ears”.

A well attended ‘No More Hotels’ protest took place over the summer which described the development as “the tipping point for the Liberties”. Now that the appeal has been rejected, Pauline said they are planning to protest again. “We have great backing and great support from the community, but it's the higher echelons in Dublin City Council that seem to be ignoring us,” she said.

One local representative who has consistently spoken about the dangers the Liberties cultural heritage faces is Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Ó Meachair. He told Dublin Live that he totally rejected the findings of An Coimisiún Pleanála, which stated that the development “would not give rise to an overconcentration of visitor accommodation in the area” and would make a “positive contribution to the streetscape”.

“I think there is already a huge oversupply of hotels in the area. I kind of feel like I’m talking to the wall at this stage because it’s so glaringly obvious,” he said. Cllr Ó Meachair called on those making planning decisions to truly engage with the local community and find out “how things actually are on the ground”.

He said that tourists have been catered to over the locals in the Liberties for too long and “it’s having a massive detrimental effect on the community”. “The Liberties is just seen as this cool, hip place for tourists to go and stay and get expensive coffee and go to the Guinness Storehouse,” he said.

It’s easy to look at all these things through “rose-tinted glasses,” but at the heart of the issue is the loss of one of the last remaining areas that encapsulates old Dublin, Cllr Ó Meachair explained. For this reason, he has campaigned for the Liberties to considered for inclusion on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list , which could help set a precedent for the refusal of further hotels.

As an area known for its vibrant Meath Street Liberty Market, proud weaving tradition, and artists from Imelda May to Fontaines D.C., Cllr Ó Meachair has called for steps to be put in place to address gentrification and ensure working class people aren’t priced out of the area.

“There’s an entire community here that is suffering badly with the housing crisis, that is suffering badly with the cost of living crisis. A lot of them live in public housing that is covered with dampness , with mould, with all the problems that have been covered extensively for many years, with no resolutions in sight,” he said.

The decision to approve more hotels in the Liberties represents a “democratic deficit,” Cllr Ó Meachair explained, stating that the development does not represent the will of the community and, despite trying to represent the citizens of Dublin, councillors repeatedly face decisions being made “over our heads”.

He commended the community for already staging protests prior to this approval and said he hopes it does not lead to a sense of resignation among locals. “People get resigned to the fact that the game is rigged and there’s almost no point in protesting,” he said.

“Then you have an issue like this where people were genuinely motivated to come out and protest and say, ‘No, this is not acceptable, we're taking a stand against it,’ and they're still ignored.”

The six-storey development includes the provision of 80 self-contained units, 12 cycle parking spaces, a ground level café, a bar, and a roof terrace. The planning was approved under certain conditions:

The ground floor café and fifth floor bar and events space should be generally accessible to the public during normal hours. Additionally, no amplified music or entertainment noise emissions will be permitted in the bar and rooftop area.

The aparthotel will only provide short-term accommodation for a maximum stay of two months and units cannot be used for independent or permanent living. Building works must be carried out between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 2pm on Saturday. No building works should take place on Sunday or public holidays without written agreement.

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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