Council plans new tearoom in old toilet

The chains might be coming off the gate into the Victorian public toilet at the New Street South and Kevin Street Upper junction as Dublin City Council prepares to reimagine it as a cafe.

This revamp was confirmed by the council after Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne asked the council’s South East Area manager for an update on the toilet’s status prior to the South East Area committee meeting on 9 June.

Built in the early 1900s, the underground toilet is covered by a granite plinth and cast-iron vent, according to the National Built Heritage Service.

The number of public toilets like this one declined from over 60 in the 1970s to none by the end of the 1990s, according to a report by council executive manager Derek Kelly on 30 May.

In 2018, the Irish Times reported that the council had said in internal emails that it intended to put this old facility on the market and turn it into a cafe.

The council’s Parks Division had looked into re-opening the toilet recently, Kelly told the full council at its monthly meeting on 9 June. 

“The cost is significant,” he said. “It’s underground so you’re not going to put a toilet underground again, so you’re going to have to build on top of it.”

Plus it’s in a busy location, and the necessary traffic-management audits would make it even more costly, he said. “And there’s already a toilet in St Patrick’s Park, less than three minutes walk away.”

But, while it may not work as exclusively as a toilet, the council is looking to turn it into a tearoom with a publicly accessible toilet.

An architect-led integrated design team was asked to develop a preliminary design for the conversion of the derelict toilet, which is a protected structure, according to a report for the South East Area committee meeting on Monday, 14 July.

Once the designs are finished, the next phase of the project will be to bring it before the council for Part 8 planning – meaning the council will apply to itself for permission, the report says.

This project is included as one of several on the current capital programme, the report says. “It will be re-considered for inclusion in the review of the 2025–2027 programme.”

In its capital programme for 2024 to 2026, the council has allocated €68,365 for the delivery of the tearoom.