ONLY months after Dublin City Council completed an expensive upgrading of Fade Street – the short Victorian enclave running between South Great George’s Street and Drury Street – a bitter row has broken out between local traders/residents and the Asia Market over its plans to open a fast-food outlet.

Last January, Dublin city planners granted planning permission for a new conventional restaurant at No 15 Fade Street (next door to the broad courtyard entrance to the Market Bar), but stipulated that “the takeaway element shall be omitted from the development and no hot or cold food shall be sold for consumption off the premises”. The council said it was doing so in the interest of orderly development and “in order to protect the character of the street”.

The Chinese owners, who run the highly successful Asian supermarket around the corner on Drury Street, were refused a broader permission. They have now lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála, pointing out that it was never their intention to run a traditional-type takeaway business. Their plan was to use the kitchen of the proposed restaurant “mainly for promotional purposes to test high quality traditional Chinese food ingredients sold at the Asia Market . . . ”

To support their case, they reminded the board that as part of the Chinese restaurant tradition, a meal normally involves a lot of dishes in the centre of the table which are shared by the diners. Invariably, there is food left over and rather than being thrown in a bin it was put in containers and taken home.

Even if the Chinese manage to persuade the planning appeals board on this point, they have other hurdles to overcome, not least some trenchant opposition from neighbours John Reynolds and Jay Bourke of the Market Bar, who contend that the Asia Market has no legal rights to use the courtyard as a dining area.

Now we are getting really serious . . .