{"id":673172,"date":"2026-11-03T00:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/673172\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T00:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:26:12","slug":"merrion-square-tea-room-project-faces-review-after-development-costs-spiral-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/673172\/","title":{"rendered":"Merrion Square tea room project faces review after development costs spiral \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The award of a 10-year lease for the operation of the controversial Merrion Square<\/a> tea rooms has been suspended as concerns mount over the cost of the cafe\u2019s development, which ranges from \u20ac6.6 million to \u20ac7.5 million. <\/p>\n

The price tag for building the tea room in the city centre park has spiralled since Dublin City Council<\/a> in 2019 sought bids for its construction with an indicative cost of \u20ac4.27 million.<\/p>\n

A recent Government audit report found the approved budget had, as of April this year, increased to \u20ac7.5 million. However, councillors were told on Monday the current budget for completion of the work is in the region of \u20ac6.6 million. This includes construction costs, as well as design team fees, which have risen to \u20ac693,385.<\/p>\n

Councillors have been told expenditure negotiations are continuing and the final cost will not be known until the facility is completed. <\/p>\n

A 2014 conservation strategy commissioned by the council for the Georgian city centre park recommended the development of a cafe. Architects Bucholz McEvoy were awarded a \u20ac246,000 contract in 2015 to design the scheme. Designs were developed and the council issued tenders for construction in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cTender returns exceeded the pre-tender estimates,\u201d the council said. The main contract was awarded to Bracegrade Ltd and the budget was later increased to \u20ac4.6 million.<\/p>\n

Construction did not start until 2023 due to Covid-19 restrictions, the council said, and was due to be completed by the end of 2024. However, it said \u201cthis has since proven unrealistic\u201d. <\/p>\n

Construction was also subject to an 18-month delay \u201carising from a formal contractual dispute\u201d, the council said. This was not resolved until the beginning of this year, following mediation with the contractor and the design team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contractor\u2019s current programme forecasts completion of the Merrion Square Park Tea Room in March 2027,\u201d councillors were told on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeetings are being arranged with the consultant [design team] and contractor to achieve a clear time frame for completion of the project,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n

The delays to the project coincided with a period of \u201cunprecedented hyperinflation within the construction sector contributing significant cost to the project\u201d, the council said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe increase in the overall project budget reflects the cumulative impact of scope changes, extended programme duration, additional design team fees, construction inflation, statutory compliance requirements, contractual disputes and associated delay costs over the period of the project,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Although the project has yet to be completed councillors were expected on Monday night to approve the award of a 10-year lease, at an annual rent of \u20ac100,000, to operate the facility. However, the proposed contract was withdrawn from the council agenda on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The council will now commission an external review of the project, councillors were told. This review will be carried out by a \u201ccompetent consultant\u201d to assess \u201cthe extent and causes of cost overruns and schedule delays\u201d. It will also \u201cevaluate the effectiveness of project governance, reporting and decision-making arrangements\u201d and determine whether \u201cexternal factors\u201d were \u201creasonably foreseeable and effectively managed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The consultant should \u201cidentify opportunities where intervention could have mitigated delays or cost escalation\u201d, should \u201ccapture lessons learned and best practices\u201d and \u201cmake recommendations to improve future project delivery, governance arrangements and organisational project management capabilities\u201d.<\/p>\n

This review would be procured shortly with a completion date of February 2027, the council said. <\/p>\n

Independent councillor Mannix Flynn<\/a> said there was a requirement for a \u201cforensic audit\u201d of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis grandiose scheme for a tea room is going to cost \u20ac8 million when people in this city can\u2019t afford a cup of tea. There is something seriously wrong here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The award of a 10-year lease for the operation of the controversial Merrion Square tea rooms has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[615,13288,61,60,76845,90974,43],"class_list":["post-673172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-dublin","tag-dublin-city-council","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mannix-flynn","tag-merrion-square","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}