Work is well under way at a site at Sandymount Road for a new building of a public house and two shops, replacing the older row of numbers 84-90.

The site area consists of around 7,500 sq. ft. on the ground floor site area. Currently, ground works are taking place with a cellar being built. The first floor is to have two office suites totalling 4,000 sq ft and two apartments, whilst the second floor will have six apartments with a roof garden overhead. The overall building when finished will be about 20,000 sq. ft. and the site is to be completed by June 2007.

The pub is to be a mixture of traditional & contemporay design, which will be medium-sized and catering for the mid-to upper-end of the market but it will not be a ‘Gastro Pub’ says the owner Kieran Mulligan, pictured right, who takes a long term approach to this venture.

As a Sandymount resident with his children in the local schools, he sees his development as being in keeping with the appearance and ambience of Sandymount Village.

Whilst he will be retaining ownership of the pub on completion, he will not be taking a hands-on role in the day-to-day running of the new pub and he has just signed up a very experienced bar manager.

Kieran sees his development as a gain for Sandymount and he’ll not be selling it on and will retain ownership of the entire development on completion. He is a keen rugby fan and hopes the new pub will be ideal around match time when the new Lansdowne Road hosts games.

As the owner of Café Java, Kieran is already involved in running the local café in Sandymount, from which he has gained experience of working with residents in the area. Over a cup of tea we discussed the possibility of a name and ‘Mulligan’s of Sandymount’ seemed to slip off the tongue, but as of yet,no name has been confirmed.

Let’s hope all the plans and building work go well and that next June will see yet another excellent hostelry in Sandymount.