Could finally bring an vacant spot to life after 15 years

12:32, 01 Apr 2026Updated 12:47, 01 Apr 2026

The site on Oliver Plunkett Street(Image: Thomas Lawrance/CorkBeo)

If you walk down Oliver Plunkett Street regularly enough, chances are you’ve wondered if this unit is ever going to be put to use – and now there are plans for a new restaurant on one of the city’s busiest commercial streets.

The empty ground floor unit, which sits beneath the FLYEFit gym on the first floor at 10 Oliver Plunkett Street, has been vacant for nearly 15 years. Now Nero Management Limited have submitted their plans flor a restaurant to Cork City Council, intending to transform the space – originally designed as a retail unit – into a restaurant.

It’s just the latest planned change for the major thoroughfare, which has seen significant additions and alterations over the last year. Last summer, a new pub was installed just up the street. The Fountain is the latest effort from Benny McCabe, who owns a chain of well-loved pubs along Leeside’s Heritage Trail including Mutton Lane, The Oval, Crane Lane, The Bodega, El Fenix and The Poor Relation.

Notice of application at 10 Oliver Plunkett Street(Image: Thomas Lawrance/CorkBeo)

A new restaurant, if greenlit, would follow the successful establishment of a nearby wine bar by Benny McCabe in May 2024. Old Brennan’s, just a couple of doors down from 10 Oliver Plunkett Street, is a stylish two-storey wine bar and art gallery on the site of the former Brennan’s Cook Shop retail store, which closed in 2020.

In December, one of the most famous açaí brands in the world opened a store nearby, and at the far end of the street, close to the bus station, permission has been granted for 10-storey hotel, which will transform a set of currently vacant commercial buildings into modern tourist accommodation.

New restaurants and dining experiences have also been springing up on the smaller lanes that branch of from Oliver Plunkett Street. A New York-style pizza place, Bronx, recently started serving up slices on Princes Street, which is now also home to new Asian fusion restaurant Mantra.