The council says it'll be open late this year, or early next.
The yellow, gravelly pathway that ran along Merrion Square’s northern end disappeared under grass, moss and weeds as it neared the colourful hoarding that cordoned off a construction site within the park.
Behind the barrier sits Dublin City Council's planned tearoom.
Although the council originally intended to start construction in June 2023 with an estimated timeline of 12 months, the project has taken far longer than first intended.
Costs have risen drastically, too. According to a Local Government Audit Service’s audit report, the council tendered for a construction contract in 2022 worth €4.6 million.
But, the report says, the council's approved budget as of April had reached €7.5 million.
Despite the soaring costs, it remains a building site, said independent Councillor Mannix Flynn on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s just appalling. The budget has gone into a completely reckless place.”
Steadily, however, the tearoom is showing signs of nearing completion, with a spokesperson for the council saying back in July that they anticipate it will be open to the public at the end of 2026, or early next year.
Construction workers in high-vis jackets wandered through the site on Monday evening while the building remained behind scaffolding.
As a light rain fell on Tuesday afternoon, lights inside the cafe were switched on.
According to the contractor’s current master programme, the definitive completion date for the tearoom is autumn 2026, the council's chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, said in a written response to the audit report.
Back in 2015, architecture firm Bucholz McEvoy was engaged by the council to deliver all of the project’s stages, Shakespeare said in his response to the audit report.
The audit report for 2024 notes that the consultant architects were appointed to develop the design for €246,000. But that rose to €655,000.
That was an increase of 166 percent on the original contract, the audit report said. “This is not in compliance with Council, national and EU procurement regulations.”
According to the 2025 audit report, the cost for this consultant had gone up by a further €30,000, bringing it up to 178 percent above the original contract price “due to scope changes, delays and inflation”.
Shakespeare acknowledged that the project encountered delays as it moved from the preliminary design stage to construction. “This timeline coincided with a period of unprecedented hyperinflation within the construction sector,” he said.
The reasons cited in his response included a four-year pause at the design phase, three years of which he attributed to the pandemic, it says.
Delays were also caused by an increased complexity in its designs and technical requirements, and necessary amendments to secure fire safety and disability access certificates, the audit report says.
Meanwhile, the council tendered for a construction contractor in 2022, which was for €4.6 million, it says.
But Shakespeare, in his report, noted that the construction phase was subject to an 18-month delay arising from a formal contractual dispute. “This matter was referred to third-party conciliation, where a binding resolution was successfully achieved.”
The contract went to conciliation in January 2026, the report says, with the outcome of this being a revised contract amount of €5.5 million, or 20 percent above the original contract amount.
As of April 2026, the council’s approved budget for the project has gone up from €6.1 million to €7.5 million, it says, noting that it continues to be funded by development contribution levies.
The project is scheduled for completion during the autumn, the chief executive's response says.
But, a council spokesperson has not yet responded to a query sent Tuesday morning for clarity on which month this referred to, or for an estimated timeline on when the tearoom will be operational.
It would use extra heat from the Poolbeg rubbish incinerator to warm water and send it through pipes underground, into buildings in the city, to keep homes and offices cosy without burning additional fossil fuels.
A local GAA club works with children with additional needs, said one councillor. “They have children with needs that need to be met and the closer they can be dropped off to the pitch, the better.”
Grazing in public parks means other uses are being pushed out, and adding momentum to calls for an equine centre and stable club to properly support horse culture in the area.
Like, what'll be the route to dig up the footpath and lay down a wire?
