DUBLIN City Council's planning committee has called for an urgent inquiry into the removal of the roof of a listed 18th-century building on the corner of Parnell Square and Gardiner Row.
The committee unanimously passed a motion, tabled by Mr Joe Costello TD (Labour), calling for "immediate measures to be taken to restore and protect the fine features of the building".
Mr Costello said a key issue was the wording of a dangerous buildings notice issued by the city architect, Mr Jim Barrett, "to demolish No 16 Parnell Square to a safe level and remove all consequent debris".
He said Dublin Corporation's planning department was unaware of the terms of the notice, even though it applied to a listed building which was still occupied by a long-established restaurant, the Garden Bistro.
The restaurant owner, Ms Anne Walsh, slept on the premises on Sunday night to prevent any further damage. "They are trying to flatten it, but we are not getting out even though I've no water or toilet facilities," she said.
The roof was removed by the building's new owners, Alstead Securities, a company controlled by the Dublin property developer, Mr John Byrne. Twelve years ago, he built a Georgian-style office block next door.
Ms Walsh obtained a court injunction preventing any work being carried out on the Garden Bistro and nothing further has been done. However, a team from the dangerous buildings department is demolishing a dilapidated premises next door.
Mr Michael Smith, of An Taisce, criticised the corporation's approach, saying it was an "outrageously disproportionate response to a problem which could be solved by intervention of another sort".
Mr Costello, who is to raise it on the adjournment in the Dail this evening, said there was "something very ironic about the idea that, to make a building safe, you take the roof off.
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