“Why is it taking so long for the City Council to start moving to their new Crown Square offices in Mervue?” – the question posed by Cllr Declan McDonnell at a local authority meeting.

According to Cllr McDonnell, more than 18 months ago, the date for the move to Crown Square had been pencilled in for January 2024, but now it looked as if this would be a year later.

“I think this is crazy. Why is this move taking so long to materialise – it’s now falling a full year behind schedule,” said Cllr McDonnell.

He added that the previous Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, had indicated that the move to the new offices would be happening this January.

Director of Services, Brian Barrett, said he had taken charge of the project last summer and he expected the first transfer of staff to Crown Square to happen in Quarter 4 of 2024.  A contractor to carry out this work would be appointed in March/April with work set to start on the offices by May, he said.

“Over the coming months, I will be providing the Council with regular updates on the progress being made,” said Mr Barrett.

Interim Chief Executive of the City Council, Patricia Philbin, also told the meeting in City Hall that councillors would be given regular updates on the move to Crown Square.

In mid-2022, the City Council approved a loan of €45.5 million to purchase the Crown Hall building ‘shell’ – the ‘fit out’ costs have been estimated by some sources to be in the region of €11 million.