Planning permission has been granted for an eight-story ‘rock and room’ hotel on Dublin’s Vicar Street, despite local objections to the project.

Businessman Harry Crosbie, developer of the 3Arena and Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, has been awarded permission after trying to get the project over the line for more than decade.

Dublin City Council granted the permission despite receiving 40 objections from locals – including those who claimed the area was already ‘saturated’ with hotels.

It found that the hotel would be more suitable than residential housing due to the nature of the Vicar Street concert venue.

On Newstalk Breakfast today, Mr Crosbie said he hopes to gain the support of the local community for the hotel because “doing nothing up there is not an option”.

Mr Crosbie said the hotel will add a much-needed sense of life into the area. 

“Vicar Street and the lanes around it desperately need more people,” he said. 

“They need more light - We need to stop the open sale of heroin in the roads.

"We need to stop people using all the lanes in around the back as a public toilet where they're dark and menacing at night.  

“The area desperately needs more people as the city grows and grows, we have to change and embrace change.” 

People dancing at Tramline, Dublin, 25-01-2022. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Mr Crosbie said what he is planning will not be a ‘normal hotel’, and that it will cater to young people in the city. 

“We will be offering a package where you can have your dinner, you can stay the night, you can reaffirm your vows for your wedding and then go to the gig.

"I mean, how bad is that?  

“I think the city needs to keep on growing. We're very fortunate - For the first time in 200 years, we have a growing population.  

“We have new, talented young people with energy and drive coming in from all over the world, and the city has to grow and change - and we must embrace change.” 

Mr Crosbie has been battling to have the hotel built since 2008, when planning permission was first approved.

Both the financial crash and COVID-19 delayed efforts until now. 

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