JD Wetherspoon to open bar in Cork

British pub operator JD Wetherspoon is expected to open its second Irish outlet — in Cork — before the end of this year.

The London-headquartered group — which owns around 900 pubs across the UK — opened its first pub here in Blackrock, Co Dublin, this week and has plans to open around 30 in all in the coming years.

Currently, however, the company only has two further sites in the planning stages — one on Cork’s Paul St and the other in Dún Laoghaire. While the latter still awaits final planning permission, the Cork outlet is expected to open in November or December.