Lights on at Clerys

The KPMG liquidators of OCS Operations, the former operating business for Clerys department store, are due back in the High Court on Monday. They are likely to provide an update to their investigation into a number of financial matters raised by the creditors' committee, which includes concession holders and staff who were turfed out on the same day Clerys was bought by the Natrium consortium led by D2 developer Deirdre Foley in June.

Businesswoman Lorraine Sweeney, who ran the cafes at Clerys and wants to have some of Clerys’ property assets transferred to defray the liquidation debts, is also thought to be nearing a formalisation of her opposition to the process.

The shuttered department store has been a hive of activity over the last week or two, sparking rumours over whether a temporary tenant may move in for Christmas or even longer.

Foley, who doesn’t care much for publicity or any of that nonsense, has also been spotted around the building several times in recent days.

All the windows are frosted but there is clearly work going on inside, as the building has been lit up for days. Anzco, a property maintenance company, appears to have dispatched several workers to Clerys. There were also what looked like painters hanging around the back of the building during the week.

Why would such workers be sent into a building whose owners plan to gut and redevelop it? The recent activity seemed not to fit in with the normal pre-planning survey work that one would expect with a major redevelopment.

Alas, I hear there are no plans for any retailers to move temporarily into Clerys before Christmas. It would have been the pop-up shop to end all others, in fairness.

Foley has yet to submit a planning application for the redevelopment of Clerys, which will be closely perused by councillors whose ears have been bent about the controversial circumstances of its closure.

I wonder if she still might try to inject some sort of life into the building to take the miserable look off it when the 1916 commemorations thrust the spotlight on to O’Connell Street in coming months?