Plans for 273-bed hostel on South William Street

The shop-front window for numbers 20 and 21 South William Street had on display a range of brass and woodwind instruments.

They weren’t for sale. Almost all of them were spray-painted black, save for a single saxophone, which was propped in an open, protective case, over which a long white piece of cloth had been draped.

“Remembering Leo”, it read.

It was put there in the memory of a particular individual who was once in the marching band, the Artane Boys Band, said Mannix Flynn, the independent councillor and artist behind the work. 

“It’s the only instrument not blackened, and he played the saxophone. He was my mate,” Flynn says.

The installation, titled “Nobody Could Hear the Music”, is part of Flynn’s ongoing campaign to change the name and uniform of the Artane Boys Band.

The band had been run by the Christian Brothers, who were also in charge of the St. Joseph’s Industrial School between 1870 and 1969, during which time many of the boys there suffered physical and sexual abuse.

Flynn’s installation was unveiled to the public on Sunday, 27 July, and it was a short-term use for the shop front, he said. “The company who owns the building are applying for planning permission, and it’s an appropriate use while they apply.”

The company, Balrath Investments ULC, had, only four days later, on 31 July, submitted a planning application to Dublin City Council to redevelop the property, known as Maryland House, as a restaurant and hostel.

Local businesses have taken issue with how this will impact their ability to operate within the building itself moving forward, and how it may lead to an increase in on-street drinking.

Balrath did not comment when asked about the new development, which would see the hostel being opened on the South William Street side, and a restaurant operating on the Drury Street side.

But Flynn says it’s a good, “substantial” proposal. “It’s a substantial use. They’re not pulling down the building.”

Change of use

Maryland House was built in 1971, according to a 2018 investment brochure, published by Lisney Estate Agents.

At that time, the ground floors were occupied by Dawsonridge Retail Limited, the company which traded on South William Street as the Helen McAlinden shop, and Gail Kinsella, the owner of the Jenny Vander boutique on Drury Street.

The four storeys above this were offices for motor insurance company AA, it says.

Helen McAlinden relocated around the corner to Drury Street in December 2023, according to its Instagram page.

Prior to Flynn’s usage of the shop front for his installation, the councillor had used it as a window to advertise his 2024 local election campaign, images on Google Street View show.

The owner of Maryland House, Balrath Investments Unlimited had, in the past few years, been slowly preparing to shift the property away from its use at that time.

In February 2022, the council granted Balrath permission to make alterations to, and change the use of the ground floor and basement from a shop and carpark to a restaurant.

Then, in September 2024, the company was given the council’s approval to develop this as a restaurant and bar, with a two-storey extension turning it into a seven-storey building.

Also among the green-lit proposals were 36 bike-parking spaces, an internal courtyard, terraces and office space.

This latest application, registered with the council on 31 July, is looking to change the use of the Drury Street side to a restaurant, while the South William Street side becomes hostel accommodation.

Its first to fourth floors, described in the application as vacant offices, would also be converted into hostel accommodation – 44 bedrooms with 273 beds, the application says. That would mean four to eight people per bedroom, it says.

Unhappy neighbours

Balrath’s application has met some mixed responses from locals.

Among the documents in the current planning application are a trio of third-party observations, voicing their concerns with this new proposal.

Jenny Vander owners Gail and Aidan Kinsella, in a letter drafted by their legal representative, notes that they hold a 35-year lease over the ground floor premises in 50 Drury Street, and would be “unduly [affected]” by the proposed development.

“We are instructed to vehemently oppose any application for planning permission on the grounds that it will impede our client's use and enjoyment of the property and as such will have detrimental effects to their livelihood,” the letter, written by their solicitor Hannah Fagan says.

Kinsella was not available to comment when contacted.

Madeleine Blaine, the owner of jewelers The Collective across the road at 24 Drury Street, wrote that local businesses already have an issue with people drinking on the street.

This would worsen the situation, she wrote. “On top of this, more people hanging around outside generates so much discarded rubbish and a huge increase in noise levels making the street incredibly unsightly and unwelcoming.”

Blaine was also unavailable to comment when contacted.

A spokesperson for Balrath Investments has not yet responded to an email sent Tuesday, asking about the impact of the new proposal on the existing businesses in the building, and whether it would increase the issue of drinking on the nearby streets.

Flynn, who has been a vocal critic of public drinking over the summer months in areas including Drury Street, says that is primarily an issue of the lack of enforcement on the council’s part.

The new proposal, he says, is a “substantial use” of the building. “I would certainly encourage this in any area.”