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Council rejects Cobblestone plan

Dublin City Council has refused planning permission for a hotel to be built around the Cobblestone pub in Smithfield. cobblestone1021

Marron Estates had applied to the council for permission to construct a nine-storey hotel at 77-80 North King Street.

The development would have meant the partial demolition of one of Dublin's most famous traditional music pubs.

Hundreds of objections were lodged with the council and demonstrations were held to save the pub.

Refusing planning permission the council stated the development would be "overbearing and significantly out of scale and character with the prevailing architectural context".

It said it would represent "substantial over-development of a highly sensitive site" and some of the destruction needed for the project would cause "unacceptable loss of historic fabric".

Sodexo seeks start-up partners

Workplace services provider Sodexo is on the lookout for Irish start-ups and scale-ups as ‘future of work’ partners. It has teamed up with innovation specialist L Marks to launch julie1121 its Accelerator innovation programme in Ireland and in the UK. Sodexo’s Accelerator innovation programme has already launched in China, Brazil, India, France and Sweden, and from January 2022, it will focus on the Ireland and UK market.

Julie Ennis, country president, Sodexo Ireland said:

“It is critical that Sodexo is agile and provides clients with forward-thinking solutions, powered by the latest technology. We have a fantastic track record of partnering with small and medium enterprises to achieve that aim.

“At Sodexo, we believe deeply in doing good business in a good way. That’s why we leverage our expertise to not only optimise the efficiency of our clients’ businesses, but to have a powerful, positive impact on the communities we serve.”

Hotel celebrates Hallmark movie

Christmas came early to the streets of Ennis this year as the County Clare town was decked out in festive snow and transformed into a Hallmark Christmas movie set last oldground exterior exterior old ground month.

Now as December beckons and thoughts turn to Christmas shopping excursions, The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis is offering guests a chance to book their very own ‘Hallmark Christmas’ couples package to mark the connection.

The movie rumoured to be titled “Christmas at Castle Hart” is set to air on the Hallmark channel from the 27th of November. And the Old Ground hosted two of the movies main stars; American Actress Lacey Chabert (of Mean Girls Fame) and Irish actor Stuart Townsend (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) throughout the three weeks of filming.

9th Wetherspoon set to open

JD Wetherspoon will open its ninth bar in the Republic next week with the creation of 100 jobs.. wetherspoon1119

Wetherspoon is due to open The South Strand in Hanover Quay, in Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock area, next Tuesday.

The company spent €4m developing the site, with that money part of an overall €50m investment Wetherspoon is making in Dublin city centre.

Earlier this year, it bought a site in Temple Bar for €9m and recently opened its €33m Keavan’s Port bar and hotel property on the city’s Camden Street.

Wetherspoon already operates eight pubs in the Republic — across Dublin city and counties, Cork, and Carlow.

Further openings are planned in Galway, Limerick, and Waterford.

Dublin Bus fare will ease visitor travel

A new 90-minute fare, which will allow passengers to transfer between public transport services in Dublin for €2.30, came into operation on Sunday. bus1121

The fare will enable visitors to travel aroud the city more easily.

Passengers can use Dublin Bus, Luas and most Dart, commuter rail and Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin within 90 minutes of initial departure, without incurring extra charges.

The 90-minute fare will be €2.30 for adults and students when using their Leap card during a promotional period until the end of March, 2022. The price will then increase to €2.50.

A flat 80 cent Leap card fare for children has also been introduced. This represents a 20 per cent discount for children using the bus outside of school hours.