Planning permission refused for new home on grounds of Tallon House in Foxrock
Designed by the late Ronnie Tallon – one of the most renowned names in Irish architecture – Tallon House was the only private home here dating from the latter half of the 20th century rated as being of national importance in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
The flat-roofed, glass-and-steel house on stilts located at Golf Lane, Foxrock, Dublin 18 was purchased in 2023 for €2.8 million by businessman Derek O'Leary and his wife Belinda.
Through the O'Leary family company, Basl Developments Ltd, they sought planning permission in August 2024 for a flat-roofed, two-storey dwelling in the grounds of Tallon House.
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Last October, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council refused permission after its executive conservation officer, Sinéad O'Hara, recommended refusal.
She described Tallon House as 'one of the greatest Irish houses of the 20th century'.
Basl Developments Ltd lodged an appeal with An Coimisiún Pleanála, which has refused permission after concluding that the proposed two-storey dwelling, due to its design, siting and scale, 'would have an overbearing visual impact and would be detrimental to the unique character and setting of Tallon House'.
The Basl Developments appeal submitted a revised house design with minor amendments.
The appeal contended that the revised design, repositioning of the house and the proposed landscape strategy would overcome any negative impact on Tallon House.
Those to lodge observations with the commission in support of the council's refusal included An Taisce and former environment editor at The Irish Times, Frank McDonald.
The planning commission inspector in the case, Oluwatosin Kehinde, recommended a refusal after concluding that the proposed development would undermine the original design concept of Tallon House, interrupt the views from the house and will visually detract from the experience of arriving at the side of the protected structure.
'I consider that the proposed development would be detrimental to the architectural value of Tallon House and its surrounding landscape,' the inspector concluded.
Mr Tallon died in 2014 at the age of 87.
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It's very difficult if you have no financing control and you have to go to a department to do something. It doesn't work. I'm still awaiting decisions [at An Post] that are four or five years old. 'If [the council] could raise €50 million and invest it in public realm, I think that would be worthwhile and you'd get a good return on it.' Having had a brush with cancer in recent years, he's keen to remain active once his time with An Post is finished. He stepped down as chairman of Eir last October and is looking to secure a couple of nonexecutive directorships to keep him active over the next few years. For his remaining time with An Post, he would like to 'reopen the UK' for Irish SME exports, which have declined in the wake of Brexit. 'SME exports I think only account for 7 per cent of revenues of SMEs, and in most countries that could be somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent. 'We're working very closely with Enterprise Ireland and we expect to do a major launch on that in the autumn. I would love to see An Post become an active engine to help Irish exports.' CV Name David McRedmond Job Chief executive of An Post Age 63 on July 9th Lives Glasthule, Co Dublin Family Married to Penny McRedmond (an adviser to Minister for Health Jennifer Caroll MacNeill) and three adult children – son Ben and daughters Georgia and Finn (an Irish Times columnist). Hobbies 'Reading. I'm becoming more obsessed with fiction. I've just finished For Whom the Bell Tolls [by Ernest Hemingway]. It was extraordinary, a fantastic book.' Something we might expect 'I love sending letters.' Something that might surprise 'I wrote my history thesis on church building in the 19th century in Dublin. It was one of the great urban programmes. It was after Catholic emancipation [1829], they had to build churches. There weren't any. They built 30 churches. It was a phenomenal work programme.'
