The Irish Times

The long-running saga of the derelict Carlton site on the northwest of O'Connell Street has finally come to an end and plans are likely to be lodged with Dublin City Council by early February. The site, adjacent to the former Carlton cinema, has been vacant since 1979, while the cinema closed in 1994. Following the failure of the site owners to develop the lands, the Dublin council decided to purchase them. The Supreme Court earlier this year upheld the validity of the compulsory purchase order originally made by the council in 2001 and confirmed by An Bord Pleanála in 2003.