A homeowner who paid €2.5 million last year for a coastal home in Dalkey, south Dublin, wants to demolish the “uninhabitable” home due to the presence of “extremely high” and “dangerous” levels of radon gas.
In February 2025, Peter Woods paid €2.5 million for Nirvana on Coliemore Road, Dalkey.
Woods has lodged plans with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to demolish Nirvana and construct three new houses on the site.
The houses would comprise a 349sq m three-storey, four-bedroom dwelling with a sauna; and two two-storey, three-bedroom dwellings of 124sq m each.
The larger home is to be located at the rear of the steep sloping site with the two smaller homes closer to Coliemore Road.
A report by planning consultant Kiaran O’Malley, concerning the Woods application, said that, initially, Woods had intended to renovate Nirvana “but following a number of radon surveys and remediation measures, the radon levels could not be brought down to safe levels so it was recommended to demolish the house”.
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O’Malley said the radon levels detected at the home were “dangerous”.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas and is classified as a group-one carcinogen and is the second-biggest cause of lung cancer in Ireland.
Radon is colourless, odourless and tasteless and can be measured only using specialised equipment.
Tests carried out at Nirvana by Cora Consulting Engineers between May and July 2025 detected radon levels more than five times the maximum limit for a domestic house and 13 times the average level in Ireland.
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In his report lodged with the application, John Casey of Cora Consulting Engineers said the only feasible option was “to demolish and replace the house with a new structure with continuous radon membranes from inside to outside”.
Woods has retained award-winning ODAA Architects to design the proposed scheme.
In a report, ODAA Architects said Nirvana, which was built in 1958, had been vacant for a number of years and was generally in very poor condition.
On the need to demolish Nirvana due to the high radon levels, ODAA Architects said “according to the Environmental Protection Agency approximately 300 people die per year in Ireland due to radon, so it is a necessity to achieve compliant radon levels at the dwelling”.
Woods provided the radon findings to the Revenue Commissioners and Revenue confirmed in writing that the existing structure was classified as uninhabitable and therefore exempt from local property tax.
A decision is due on the application in December.