Roche rejects request to help save Bewley's cafes

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has rejected an appeal from Dublin City Council to lend his weight to the campaign to save Bewley's cafes.

In a letter to come before the council tonight, the Minister has indicated that he will not intervene to protect the future use of the cafes despite a written request from the councillors.

The Minister's rejection could signal the end of the campaign to save the cafes, with the council management to indicate tonight that all legal avenues to ensure their preservation have been exhausted.

The council wrote to Mr Roche last December on foot of a motion from Lord Mayor Michael Conaghan, chairman of the Save Bewley's Cafe Campaign, asking him to use his powers to ensure the future of the cafes.

The response from the Department of the Environment, on Mr Roche's behalf, states that the Minister is "not in a position" to dictate the usage of buildings, and that it is the responsibility of the council to use what powers it has to protect "the architectural integrity" of the property.

"Statutory protection of the architectural heritage is primarily a matter for the planning authorities," the letter says.

Mr Conaghan's motion, passed by the council on December 6th, asks the Minister to list Bewley's in the proposed National Trust.

Consultants have been engaged by the department to examine the possible establishment of the trust, the Minister's letter says. It gives no indication Bewley's will be included in this list.

The Minister's rejection could signal the end of the long-running campaign to preserve the Grafton Street and Westmoreland Street cafes since the Campbell Bewley Group announced last October that the operation was no longer viable.

The Grafton Street establishment is likely to remain as a restaurant or cafe following reports last month that Jay Bourke and Eoin Foyle, owners of the Cafe Bar Deli restaurant chain, had entered into a deal on the site.

Bewley's has been granted permission, by the council's planning department to redevelop the Westmoreland Street cafe as a cocktail bar and restaurant. An Taisce and the Save Bewley's Cafe Campaign have appealed to An Board Pleanála against the application.

The councillors will be presented with a report from council management tonight suggesting that the legal options the council had for preserving Bewley's have run out.

The report will say: ". . . unless some legislative change is made, or the premises are acquired by a public authority whose remit or adopted objective is to preserve the existing use, it is difficult to see how this part of our cultural history can be retained".

While Bewley's may be included in a future National Trust, it is likely that the fate of the buildings will be determined before the trust is established.