City Briefs: Liberties Pub to Be Revived, but Stasis in Bluebell

Changing Hands

Nash’s pub on Patrick Street in the Liberties has changed hands, bought up by Jonathan Foley, the son of Sean Foley, who owns Foley’s Pharmacy on Meath Street.

Sean Foley says Nash’s is going to be renovated and will re-open as a pub when works are completed. He wasn’t ready to give more details yet.

Nash’s was popular with locals from the Liberties, said patrons of Shanahan’s pub nearby. “It was a home from home,” said Margaret Carolan, who was a regular there, as was her late father. “It’s missed terrible around the area.”

Nash’s was run by Pat and Eileen Nash, who were friendly and made a big effort to decorate the place for festive occasions, said Carolan. Pat used to dress up as Santy at Christmas, she said.

Before it was Nash’s, there was an old pub on the site called Quinn’s, which was part of the infamous Four Corners of Hell, the troubled crossroads which has been chronicled by Come Here to Me!

Rollover Plans

Councillors for the South Central Area agreed to recommend that the council extend the local area plan for the development of several Naas Road sites for another five years.

The plan covers about 100 hectares in Bluebell, and includes four key sites: the Royal Liver Retail Park, Motor Distributors Ltd, the Nissan Site, and Muirfield Drive/Naas Road.

Most of these are privately owned. The plan envisions mixed-use commercial and residential developments on them.

Cait Ryan, an executive planner at Dublin City Council, told councillors at their South Central Area Committee meeting on Wednesday last that “very little has actually been developed or delivered or even permitted”.

There is a planning approval for 306 apartments on one site, she said and 73 on another. But “no new build as such has commenced”, she said.

Councillors asked whether the expiry of the existing local area plan threw up the chance to get more social housing on the site.

The plan currently allows for 10 percent social housing, so any changes to that would need to be done formally, they were told.