French to say 'au revoir' to Ailesbury Road embassy offices

THE FRENCH government is planning to sell the Chancery, the embassy offices opposite the ambassador’s residence at 36 Ailesbury Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, as soon as it finds alternative offices in the city.

The embassy is in the process of appointing a Dublin estate agency to acquire a modern office block of about 600sq m (6,458 sq ft) in Dublin 2 or 4. The plan is to purchase the building outright.

The Chancery, a modest two-storey building with an acre of garden, had a price tag of € 20 million in January 2008 when it was offered for sale at the same time as the French embassy residence at 53 Ailesbury Road. Lisney sought € 60 million for the 1,020sq m (11,000sq ft) residence – by far the largest and grandest detached house in the city – with a garden of 1.75 acres.

Though there were some signs at that stage that the property market was in trouble, businessman Denis O’Brien and property developer Johnny Ronan both made offers for the two buildings, while investor Derek Quinlan bid for the residence only. The embassy apparently took its time in deciding whether to accept any of the offers and with the storm clouds hanging over the market, all three offers were eventually withdrawn.

Though the Chancery is due to be put on the market again once a suitable replacement building is found, an embassy spokeswoman emphasised that the residence is “not for sale”.

She said the Chancery was “too small” as their staff were presently based in three separate locations: the consulate and political sections were in the Chancery; the economic section was based at Harcourt Street/St Stephen’s Green, while cultural services had offices in the Alliance Français headquarters on Kildare Street.

The Chancery building dates from 1920 and has been owned by the French embassy since 1968. One report suggests that the embassy was refused planning permission some years ago to enlarge the building.

A sale at this stage is unlikely to yield much more than €3 to €5 million. The likelihood is that the building will be bought by the Chinese government, which has been actively acquiring other properties on Ailesbury Road.

The house has a fascinating rebel history, having been built by the republican Batt O’Connor, a friend of Michael Collins, for a widow, Nell Humphreys, whose family were wealthy supporters of Irish independence. The two-storey redbrick was used as a safe house in the War of Independence, sheltering Irish fugitives. It was also the setting for cabinet meetings of the underground republican government. Its design included a secret room in the basement, and in 1922 the house was raided by the Free State troops who sprung Ernie O’Malley from the hidden room in a gun battle that left one soldier dead and O’Malley wounded.