Dublin pub Doheny & Nesbitt at odds with planners over ‘optically obtrusive’ signs – The Irish Times

One of Dublin’s best-known pubs is embroiled in a planning dispute with Dublin City Council over “a significant amount” of unauthorized advertising and other work on the building.

The City Council has refused the owners of Doheny & Nesbitt on Baggot Street Lower near the city center planning permission for advertising banners and flagpoles at the front of the building advertising Guinness and the pub.

The local authority said the various signs and poles had created “visual pollution and unnecessary clutter” in the streetscape and were “visually intrusive” while setting an undesirable precedent for a similar type of development.

It said the unauthorized work was having “serious adverse and detrimental effects on the architectural fabric and character of a protected structure,” as well as the visual and residential amenities of adjacent properties in the city’s Georgian core.

The ruling means the pub faces enforcement action from the council unless it voluntarily removes the unauthorized signs.

Council files show that Doheny & Nesbitt – a popular stop for politicians and dignitaries due to its proximity to government buildings and Leinster House – has been the subject of enforcement orders relating to advertising and flagpoles since 2019.

Swigmore Inns, the pub’s owner, had applied for retrospective approval for large raised white lettering on the second and third floors of the building reading ‘Rugby Time is Guinness Time at Doheny and Nesbitt’ along with an image of a rugby ball.

It also sought permission to keep four large stainless steel flagpoles erected on the ground floor.

A council planning officer said it was apparent during on-site inspections at the pub that “a significant level of unauthorized development has taken place”.

The officer said there was also a significant amount of additional unauthorized work at the premises which had not been reported to council in relation to the pub’s application for a retention permit.

These included a protruding neon ‘Bar’ sign and clock on the ground floor and a few other Guinness signs, as well as projected lights at roof level and retractable branded awnings.

The council said the Baggot Street area has restrictions on the use of outdoor advertising and the signage was in a highly sensitive location on a protected structure adjacent to an architectural heritage site.

In addition, she expressed concerns that the signage could distract both pedestrians and motorists on a busy thoroughfare.

Swigmore has a few weeks to decide whether to appeal the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanála.