'Considerable notoriety': City pub targeted by criminals set for demolition

The notorious Players Lounge pub in Fairview, scene of a shooting just over a decade ago, is set to be demolished and replaced with apartments under plans submitted to Dublin City Council.

In July 2010 an armed man is alleged to have opened fire outside the north Dublin pub, wounding three men including a security guard.

The following year, €50,000 was stolen from the pub in an armed robbery and the building was set on fire and extensively damaged. The pub has remained derelict and vacant since.

Apartments

The site at 47-49 Fairview Strand includes extensive lands to the rear of the pub leading onto Esmond Avenue. It is proposed to build three blocks of apartments up to five storeys high on the site, two of which would face the street at Fairview Strand and Esmond Avenue, with one internal block facing onto a courtyard. The scheme's 17 apartments would be a mix of studios, and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, all of which would be dual aspect.

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The Victorian pub is not a protected structure and it is proposed to demolish it and clear the entire site. The application, submitted by architect Dan O'Sullivan on behalf of pub owner Rita Markey, describes the building as of "modest quality" and states while its retention was considered, "it is in poor condition and its possible continued use as a pub carries the 'baggage' of the notoriety of The Players Lounge".

While the pub “may have some presence in the streetscape”, its “considerable notoriety very strongly offsets its contribution to the locality”, the application said. The pub’s demolition would be a signal of “positive renewal” for the area, it said. “Discussions with local residents during the preparation of this application indicate that they favour a complete redevelopment of the site.”