Desmond wins right to install dumb waiter

BILLIONAIRE financier Dermot Desmond is celebrating the success of yet another daring venture - he got planning permission for a dumb waiter.

The irrepressible investor faced one of his toughest boardroom battles in his three-and-a-half year quest to bring modern technology to a listed building.

Yesterday An Bord Pleanála finally gave him the go-ahead.

The 18th century building at 71 Merrion Square, Dublin, was home to the late fashion designer, Sybil Connolly, and was later bought by one of Mr Desmond’s companies, Illium Properties.

Refurbishment plans first ran into trouble in 2002 when Dublin City Council refused permission for works already commenced on a dumb waiter and an associated electrical riser running from the basement to the third floor.

An Bord Pleanála also refused permission in March 2003. The case came before the High Court in 2004 where lllium sought leave for a judicial review of the board’s decision.

Judgment in May 2005 quashed the decision, clearing the way for the appeal to be reconsidered.

Illium had argued the works proposed would fit into the part of the house already altered contrary to Georgian design by a previous owner in the 1960s when air conditioning ducts were installed.

Dublin City Council argued the works damaged the original fabric of a protected structure of “national architectural heritage importance”.

A fresh An Bord Pleanála inspector’s report concluded the dumb waiter and electrical riser constituted works that were “entirely reversible” and “the manner of their implementation generally accords with good conservation practice”.