The plans would see the addition of 30 market units and an exhibition, restaurant and event space to the area.

Plans have been submitted for the CHQ building in Dublin’s docklands to be redeveloped into a licensed food market. According to The Times, Custom House Quarter, the owner of the property, has applied to DCC for planning permission to turn the ground floor of the listed 19th-century building into a multi-stall food market, with an event space on a mezzanine level. Food and alcohol will be served within the food hall and outside area, with a new central entrance from George’s Dock.

A rebel influence

The building is owned by the former Coca-Cola chief Neville Isdell and his stepbrother Mervyn Greene, a Cork businessman, who previously said they were examining the option of opening a food market and looking at models such as the English Market in Cork. If given the go-ahead, the development will also include the construction of a five-storey, 40,000 sq ft mixed-use building over an extended basement, which will include office space.

Exterior of the Custom House Quarter, image via chq.ie

The absence of a permanent market in the capital is a topic regularly discussed by Dubliners, who feel the addition of a market similar to those found in other European cities would be hugely beneficial. There have also been a number of campaigns to regenerate market spaces such as the iconic Iveagh Markets in the Liberties, which has lain vacant and is falling into a state of derelict since being purchased by a private developer over two decades ago. Header image via chq.ie  READ NEXT: 'I took on more than I could handle' - Temple Bar pizza spot Southpaw announce closure