Moore Street bakery to close with the loss of 70 jobs

A bakery on Moore Street in Dublin is set to be demolished with the loss of 70 jobs to make way for a road as part of the €900 million Dublin Central shopping centre development.

The owners of the Paris Bakery at 18 and 19 Moore Street said they could not afford to relocate, and would have to close the business when their lease expires in four months.

Developer Joe O'Reilly's Chartered Land was granted planning permission in 2010 for the 2.7 hectare development on a site stretching from the former Carlton cinema on O'Connell Street to Moore Street. However, no construction started and the lands now form part of Nama's portfolio of loans.

1916 Rising
The proposed development includes numbers 14 to 17 Moore Street which were declared a national monument because of their use in the 1916 Rising.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan last week announced that Nama would finance the restoration of the national monument buildings by Chartered Land.

Chartered Land said the bakery buildings were outside the footprint of the monument and it had approval for demolition.

Media reports last week suggested the company was in discussions with the Paris Bakery about a relocation, but both parties said this was not the case.

Bakery owner Ruth Savill said late last year that Chartered Land offered a "dilapidated building" owned by the company on the other side of Moore Street that was "wholly unsuitable" for the bakery.

“It was half the size of the present location, has no planning permission, and would need an investment of more than half a million euro just to bring it up to scratch.”

Ms Savill said she had been told by Chartered Land it would not extend the lease, for which she was paying €17,300 a month, beyond June.

“Unless we are financed we will simply have to close with the loss of 70 jobs. Chartered Land have made it clear they will not accommodate us elsewhere.”

A spokeswoman for Chartered Land said it had approval for the demolition and had advised the bakery owners to start looking for new premises.

Property holdings
"Unfortunately Chartered Land is not in a position to offer them anything in the area as all of the Moore Street property holdings will be required for the Dublin Central development."

The bakery and cafe opened with just four employees in November 2010 but rapidly expanded. It supplies pastries to a major coffee chain.