One of Northern Ireland’s most well-known pub and hotel operators has been given the green light to create a hotel in the heart of Dublin, creating 200 jobs.
Beannchor Group, which owns The Merchant Hotel and Bullitt Hotel in Belfast as well as a portfolio of pubs and restaurants across the region, had its plans to transform a former bakery on Dublin’s Capel Street passed by the Republic’s planning authority, An Bord Pleanála.
Until recently the home to the Riverdance organisation, the site will be transformed into a 98-bedroom hotel under the Bullitt Dublin name, the second iteration of the group’s popular brand named after the 1968 Steven McQueen film of the same name.
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The Capel Street site is located not far from O’Connell Street and the company said much of the existing building will be restored and maintained with an extension added to create more space.
The site was acquired by Beannchor in late 2017 and construction work on the hotel will progress when archaeological surveys at the site have been completed.
The Beannchor Group said it is Northern Ireland’s largest hospitality group. As well as the Bullitt and Merchant hotels, its portfolio also includes The Dirty Onion in Belfast; The Hillside in Hillsborough and nine Little Wing Pizzerias in locations across Northern Ireland.
The group’s managing director Bill Wolsey said a Dublin opening has been a long-held dream.
“Our ambition to bring the Bullitt brand to Dublin is something that we have been planning for some time,” he said. “We are passionate about the Bullitt brand and we are confident that it will prove just as popular in the Dublin market as it has already proven in Belfast.
“We plan to recognise and respect the history and architecture of the site and the heritage of the area, and in doing so will ensure Bullitt Dublin has its own unique character. The design and layout of the hotel, along with its open spaces, will help establish this.”