The owner of Dublin’s Iveagh Markets is being urged to give the landmark building “back to the people”.

The iconic building in Dublin’s south inner city dates back to the early 20th century and for many years was a bustling place of commerce and trade.

Since 1996, the site has been vacant and has become derelict due to prolonged neglect. 

Restoration work has recently begun but Dublin City Council (DCC) has yet to clarify when - if ever - trading will return. 

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Sinn Féin Councillor Máire Devine said more work will be needed before it can function as a commercial building again 

“For its future, we’re getting remedial work and we’ll get more robust work [done] later on,” she said. 

“In the meantime, we need to start a public consultation and that consultation is about how the future will look for this fabulous building. 

“Nothing about [this must happen] without the traders that still are around and their families and the local community.”

Iveagh Markets. 23/04/2024. Image: Newstalk

Publican Martin Keane was granted a 500-year lease on the site and as it became derelict, DCC moved to repossess it.

Cllr Devine believes Mr Keane should “do the right thing” and “give it back to the people” of the local area.

“[Dublin City Council and Mr Keane] can squabble over the ownership and let the thing die and that’s what’s been happening for, what, two decades at least,” she said. 

“Morally, it belongs to the people of the area, the traders; it was built for them.” 

Iveagh Markets. 23/04/2024. Image: Newstalk

In the long-term, Cllr Devine hopes the Iveagh Markets can once again become a thriving place of commerce and trade - much like Cork’s English Market or Belfast’s St George’s Market. 

“[The vision] is trading, it is food, it’s music events, it’s opening it up for longer hours and getting more multipurpose use of that fabulous space,” she said. 

“You can imagine what it would be like to listen to music down there, to shop and to eat. 

“So, it would be a really [great] destination, not just for tourists… but also for visitors from Ireland and also our [local] population.” 

The Iveagh Markets was built in 1906 by Edward Cecil Guinness and originally gifted to the city of Dublin.

Main image: Iveagh Markets.