Plan for O’Connell Street restaurant approved, but it is banned from serving takeaways

A new restaurant being planned for Ulster Bank’s former O’Connell Street branch in Dublin will be barred from operating any takeaway food service.

Kingstonway Limited, the new owners of 2-4 O’Connell Street Lower, applied for planning permission to convert the building into a mixed-use restaurant, retail and office development.

Dublin City Council has now granted the company permission to convert part of the old bank into a restaurant, but said it “shall not operate as a takeaway (an outlet that sells hot food for consumption off the premises)”.

In its planning application, the company said it had interest from an international restaurant operator to occupy part of the building, but did not clarify if this operator wanted to provide takeaway services.

Longstanding concerns have been aired by city councillors about the concentration of fast-food outlets on O’Connell Street, from which about a dozen provide takeaway services.