JD Wetherspoon set to open fourth bar in the Republic

British pub chain JD Wetherspoon is to create 85 new jobs with the opening of its fourth bar in the Republic next week.

The company said has spent €2.8 million developing The Old Borough, which is situated on Main Street in Swords. The new outlet is on the site of an existing pub, The Old Boro and prior to that was a school for 191 years until its closure in the year 2000.

JD Wetherspoon currently runs three pubs in the Republic - The Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, The Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire and The Great Wood in Blanchardstown.

The chain is set to open its first bar outside of Dublin - The Linen Weaver in Cork city - shortly.

The company has acquired a number of other properties in the Republic including a former homeless hostel on Camden Street in Dublin. The group is to invest more than €4 million developing a new pub and hotel at Camden Hall.

JD Wetherspoon, which plans to open 30 bars across Ireland over the next five years, was founded in 1979. It operates more than 900 bars across Britain.

Earlier this year, JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin told the Irish Times that the chain's Dublin bars were performing "in line with, if not better than expectations."

Opening hours for the Old Borough, which officially opens on Tuesday next, will be from 8am until 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday and 8am until 12.30am on Friday and Saturday.

The original building was designed by Irish architect Francis Johnson, who also designed the GPO on O'Connell Street and St George's Church in Hardwicke Place, both in Dublin. Although the inside of the building has been altered over the years, the building, which opened as a school in 1809, is much as it was when it was designed.

"Myself and my team are looking forward to welcoming customers into the pub and we are confident that it will be a great addition to the Swords community," said bar manager Dan Foster.