Property & Planning

Week of 2026-W11

Irish Property Market Intelligence | Business Post

Irish Property Market Intelligence

Monthly Report: 12–16 March 2026 — Transactions, Planning & Market Trends

Source: PROPERTY | Period: 2026-03-12 to 2026-03-16

Monthly | 12–16 March 2026

Dublin Prices Surge 57% as Volume Halves — A €5.75m Ailesbury Road Sale, 924 Units Seeking Approval in Lucan, and the Courts Clear the Way for Data Centres

Transactions registered in the five-day period 12–16 March 2026 tell a tale of two markets: Dublin's average price leapt from €501,000 to €789,000 compared with the previous equivalent period — not because the market overheated, but because volume halved from 275 to 131 transactions, leaving premium properties to dominate the sample. The single most striking data point is 61 Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge D04, a second-hand dwelling that changed hands for €5.75 million — twelve times the Dublin median — in a week that also saw two further Ballsbridge transactions above €1.9 million. Meanwhile, on the planning front, a 924-unit SDZ development in Lucan quietly filed an amendment that tells a pointed story about what kind of housing the market actually wants to build: more studios, more one-beds, fewer family-sized units.

Across 3 transactions registered this period, the national median settled at €352,423 — a figure that masks enormous geographic divergence. Cork recorded 55 transactions at an average of €371,000, while Galway managed just 13 at €270,000. The planning pipeline, with 0 applications received, was dominated by Donegal's ongoing mica remediation wave — a structural programme that is quietly reshaping the county's housing stock one demolition-and-rebuild at a time.

Transactions Registered

€352k

National Median Price

€789k

Dublin Avg Price (up 57%)

Planning Applications

924

Units in Largest Application

By the Numbers

Metric	Value	Signal
National average transaction price	€468,601	Baseline
National median transaction price	€352,423	Anchor
Highest single transaction	€5,750,000	Premium D4
Dublin average price (current period)	€789,174	+57% vs prev. period
Dublin average price (previous period)	€501,088	Comparison
Dublin transaction volume change	131 vs 275	-52% volume
Planning applications received	89	Active pipeline
Residential units in planning	105	Forward supply

Business Post AI Pick: The Volume Illusion Dublin's average price appears to have surged 57% in a single week — but the real story is a 52% drop in transaction volume. When fewer properties trade, the sample skews toward premium stock. The two Ballsbridge transactions alone — €5.75m and €1.95m — added significant weight to the Dublin average. This is not a price spike; it is a composition effect. Readers should treat week-on-week average price comparisons with caution when volume is this volatile.

  Pattern of the Period: The Mica Rebuild Wave
  Donegal County Council received 22 planning applications this period — the highest of any authority — and a significant proportion explicitly cite defective mica or defective concrete blocks as the reason for demolition and replacement. This is not organic housing demand; it is a state-backed remediation programme working its way through the planning system. Each application represents a family whose home has been condemned by the mica scandal. The volume of applications suggests the programme is accelerating into 2026.

The Investigation: Where the Money Moved

A deeper look at the 3 transactions registered over the period reveals a market in which geography and property type are doing most of the work. Dublin's premium end dominated the headline numbers, but the real story is in the distribution: 51 transactions — 12% of the national total — fell in the €400,000–€450,000 band, the single most active price bracket nationally. Below €300,000, the market was thin but present, with 36 transactions at under €50,000 — many of these likely commercial or distressed assets. The data confirms a market with a healthy mid-range core but a long premium tail that distorts averages.

Top Transactions Registered This Period

Address	County	Price	Type	Signal
61 Ailesbury Rd, Ballsbridge	Dublin 4	€5,750,000	Second-hand	Period high
2 Sydenham Road, Ballsbridge	Dublin 4	€1,950,000	Second-hand	D4 premium
Moorechurch, Julianstown	Meath	€1,000,000	Second-hand	Rural €1m+
100 Rathfarnham Wood, D14	Dublin 14	€950,000	Second-hand	D14 premium
Rathdown Road, Greystones	Wicklow	€895,000	Second-hand	Coastal Wicklow
22 Seacliff, Dunbur Rd, Wicklow Town	Wicklow	€800,000	Second-hand	Wicklow Town
16 Cowper Hall, Mount St Annes, D6	Dublin 6	€925,000	Second-hand	D6 premium
18 Aranleigh Vale, Rathfarnham, D14	Dublin 14	€830,000	Second-hand	D14 premium

Stress Signal: The Ballsbridge Concentration Effect Two transactions on adjacent streets in Ballsbridge — 61 Ailesbury Road at €5.75m and 2 Sydenham Road at €1.95m — together account for €7.7 million of Dublin's total registered transaction value this period. In a week where Dublin volume fell by 52%, these two properties alone represent a disproportionate share of the county's average price calculation. This is a statistical artefact, not a market signal. The D04 eircode prefix (D04Y9F7 and D04T9X4) confirms both are in the same micro-market, where sub-€100m properties are rare and the buyer pool is international.

Standout: Wicklow Holds Its Ground Wicklow recorded 18 transactions at an average of €493,000 this period — down from 27 transactions at €546,000 in the previous period, but the price resilience is notable. The county's coastal premium (Greystones, Wicklow Town) is holding even as volume softens. Rathdown Road, Greystones at €895,000 and 22 Seacliff, Wicklow Town at €800,000 confirm that the A63/A67 eircode corridor continues to command a significant premium over the national median.

County Price Tracker: Period-over-Period Comparison

The county-level comparison between 12–16 March and the previous equivalent period (5–11 March) reveals a market in which Dublin's composition effect is masking underlying stability. Strip out the Ballsbridge outliers and most counties are trading within a narrow band of their previous-period averages. The most significant genuine shift is in Galway, where transaction volume collapsed from 39 to 13 — a 67% drop — while average prices fell 18%. This is not a Galway-specific story; it reflects the broader pattern of mid-March being a quieter registration period as the market digests February activity.

County	Avg (Current)	Avg (Previous)	Change	Txns (Curr)	Txns (Prev)	Volume
Dublin	€789,174	€501,088	+57% (composition)	131	275	−52%
Cork	€370,813	€344,399	+7.7%	55	98	−44%
Meath	€356,477	€445,599	−20%	23	29	−21%
Kildare	€351,337	€374,551	−6.2%	21	46	−54%
Wicklow	€492,561	€546,413	−9.8%	18	27	−33%
Limerick	€353,774	€317,023	+11.6%	15	32	−53%
Waterford	€317,160	€317,514	Flat	10	28	−64%
Galway	€269,822	€329,219	−18%	13	39	−67%

  Construction Watch: The Lucan SDZ Pivot
  The most significant planning application of the period is not a new development — it is an amendment. Application SDZ26A/0009W filed with South Dublin County Council seeks to increase the total unit count at the Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ in Lucan from 877 to 924 units, while simultaneously shifting the mix: studios up by 52, one-beds up by 72, two-bed (4-person) units down by 77. The gross floor area actually decreases by 112 sq m despite adding 47 units. This is a developer optimising for yield per square metre — smaller units, more of them, same footprint. Whether this serves affordability or the build-to-rent market is the question the planning authority must answer before the 6 May decision deadline.

Planning Applications: Activity by Authority

Of the 0 applications received, 73 were for full permission, 12 for retention, and 2 for extension of duration. The geographic spread tells a story: Donegal's 22 applications (25% of the national total) are overwhelmingly mica-related replacements, while South Dublin's 10 applications include the period's largest development. Tipperary's 14 applications reflect a steady pipeline of rural one-off housing — a consistent pattern in the county's planning register.

Donegal County Council

Tipperary County Council

South Dublin County Council

Galway County Council

Cavan County Council

Laois County Council

Longford County Council

View All 3 Transactions →

View Planning Applications →

The Connections: What the Data Alone Cannot Tell You

Transaction data and planning registers are the skeleton of the property market. The flesh — who is buying, why they are building, and what it means for the economy — requires connecting the dots across multiple sources. Over this period, four structural themes emerge that cut across the raw numbers: the institutional consolidation of social housing, the pivot toward smaller units in large-scale developments, the courts' growing role in clearing the data centre pipeline, and the quiet acceleration of the mica remediation programme in Donegal. None of these is visible in a single data source. Together, they tell a coherent story about where Irish property is heading.

  Institutional Consolidation: The Social Housing Market Reshapes Itself
  The Business Post reported that Home for Life boosted its social housing portfolio with an €80m 'Lime' deal, acquiring 276 units from funds managed by TPG Angelo Gordon — bringing its total portfolio to approximately 1,650 homes nationwide. This transaction, concluded against a backdrop of rising interest rates and geopolitical volatility, is a textbook example of institutional exit from Irish social housing: international fund managers, who entered the market when yields were attractive, are now selling to domestic operators with longer time horizons and state-backed income streams. The so-what: Ireland's social housing stock is quietly consolidating into fewer, larger hands. Home for Life, led by Paul Cunningham and Charlie O'Reilly Hyland, is positioning itself as the dominant private consolidator in a sector that the government has identified as requiring significant ongoing investment. Watch for further portfolio acquisitions as more international funds seek Irish exits in 2026.

Energy Efficiency as Market Differentiator: Cairn Homes Raises the Bar The Business Post reported that Cairn Homes secured Passivhaus Institute certification for three Dublin developments — Charlestown, Santry, and Seven Mills — covering hundreds of completed units. Passive homes, which cut energy demand by up to 50%, now account for approximately one-third of Cairn's development pipeline. This matters for the transaction market: as energy costs remain elevated, BER ratings are increasingly influencing buyer decisions, and Passivhaus-certified stock commands a premium. The transaction data from this period shows Dublin's second-hand market trading at a median of €478,000 — but new-build passive homes in the same geography are likely trading at a meaningful premium. Madeleina Loughrey Grant, Cairn's Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, noted that passive homes offer "significantly reduced household energy bills" — a selling point that resonates in a market where energy costs have become a household budget issue. Watch for passive home certification to become a standard marketing claim among larger developers by 2027.

The Unit Mix Pivot: Build-to-Rent or Affordability? The Lucan SDZ amendment (SDZ26A/0009W) is the most revealing planning document of the period. A developer is seeking to add 47 units to a 924-unit scheme while simultaneously reducing the gross floor area by 112 sq m — achieved by replacing 77 larger two-bed (4-person) units with 52 studios and 72 one-beds. The arithmetic is stark: studios and one-beds generate higher rental yield per square metre than family-sized units. This is not a housing supply story; it is a yield optimisation story. The planning authority — South Dublin County Council, with a decision due by 6 May 2026 — must decide whether this amendment serves the county's housing needs or the developer's return on capital. The Business Post's reporting on Homely's rent-to-own launch in Kildare (180 units at Riverside Manor, Kilcullen, with Alchemy Homes) points to an alternative model: developers partnering with rent-to-own platforms to make new homes accessible to buyers who cannot yet secure a mortgage. The contrast between the Lucan SDZ pivot and the Kilcullen rent-to-own model captures the tension at the heart of Irish housing policy in 2026.

  Donegal's Mica Crisis: A Structural Rebuild Programme in the Planning Register
  Donegal County Council's 22 planning applications this period — the highest of any authority — are not a sign of organic housing demand. A significant proportion are mica remediation applications: demolition of existing dwellings due to defective concrete blocks, followed by construction of replacement homes. Applications 2660398, 2660401, 2660403, 2660405, 2660416, and 2660417 all cite defective mica or defective blockwork as the reason for demolition. This is a state-backed programme — the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme — working its way through the planning system at scale. Each application represents a family displaced from a condemned home. The volume suggests the programme is accelerating: Donegal's share of national planning applications (25% this period) is structurally elevated and will remain so for several years. Watch for the programme to generate significant construction activity in Donegal, Mayo, and Clare through 2026–2028.

The Radar: Three Signals Worth Watching

Signal 1: The Longford Suburban Expansion Application 2660078 filed with Longford County Council seeks permission for 30 new dwellings at Silver Birches, Stonepark — a mix of 24 three-bed semi-detached and 6 two-bed terraced houses. This is not a headline development, but it is a significant signal: Longford, historically one of Ireland's least active property markets, is seeing suburban estate development at a scale not seen in over a decade. The application is for a conventional family housing mix — the opposite of the Lucan SDZ pivot toward studios and one-beds. If granted, it will add 30 family homes to a county where the average transaction price is well below the national median. Watch for similar applications in Longford, Roscommon, and Leitrim as affordability pressures push buyers further from Dublin.

Signal 2: The Rent-to-Own Model Gains Ground The Business Post reported that Homely launched 180 rent-to-own homes in Kildare, partnering with Alchemy Homes at Riverside Manor, Kilcullen. Rent-to-own — where tenants pay rent with an option to purchase at a pre-agreed price — is gaining traction as a bridge for buyers who cannot yet access a mortgage. Kildare's transaction data this period shows 21 transactions at an average of €351,000 — a market where affordability is stretched but not broken. The rent-to-own model targets exactly this cohort: people who can afford the rent but not the deposit. Watch for rent-to-own schemes to expand beyond Kildare into Cork, Limerick, and Galway as developers seek to differentiate their product in a competitive market.

Signal 3: The Greystones Premium Holds Two Wicklow transactions this period — Rathdown Road, Greystones at €895,000 and 22 Seacliff, Wicklow Town at €800,000 — confirm that the coastal Wicklow corridor (A63/A67 eircodes) continues to command prices well above the county average of €493,000. This is a market driven by remote workers, Dublin commuters, and lifestyle buyers who are willing to pay a significant premium for coastal access. The Greystones premium has proven resilient through multiple interest rate cycles. Watch for the A63 eircode to remain one of Ireland's most consistently premium micro-markets through 2026, with prices unlikely to soften materially unless mortgage rates rise sharply.

The Deep Dive: Two Stories Behind the Numbers

Two entities this period reward deeper investigation. The first is the Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ in Lucan — a 924-unit development whose planning amendment reveals the structural economics of large-scale residential development in 2026. The second is the Ailesbury Road transaction — a €5.75 million sale that, when placed in the context of D04's long-run price history, tells a story about the resilience of Ireland's ultra-premium residential market even as the broader market softens.

Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ, Lucan — The Yield Optimisation Playbook

The Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ (Strategic Development Zone) in Lucan, south-west Dublin, is a large-scale residential development originally permitted for 877 units across nine blocks on a 5.12-hectare site. The site sits within the K78 eircode area, a rapidly developing suburban corridor between Lucan and Clondalkin. The amendment filed in March 2026 seeks to increase the unit count to 924 while reducing the gross floor area — a combination that is only possible by shrinking the average unit size.

Metric	Original Permission	Amended Proposal	Change
Total units	877	924	+47 units
Studio units	45	97	+52 studios
1-bed units	388	460	+72 one-beds
2-bed (3-person) units	86	86	No change
2-bed (4-person) units	317	240	−77 family units
3-bed units	41	41	No change
Gross floor area	77,564 sq m	77,452 sq m	−112 sq m
Site area	5.12 Ha	5.12 Ha	Unchanged

Reading Between the Lines: The Family Unit Squeeze The amendment removes 77 two-bed (4-person) units — the type of home that accommodates a couple with children — and replaces them with 52 studios and 72 one-beds. This is not a response to market demand for smaller homes; it is a response to the economics of build-to-rent. Studios and one-beds in suburban Dublin command rents of €1,400–€1,800 per month, while two-bed family units in the same location might achieve €2,000–€2,400 — a lower yield per square metre. The developer is maximising income per square metre, not housing supply per se. South Dublin County Council's decision by 6 May 2026 will signal whether planning authorities are willing to push back on unit mix amendments that reduce family housing in suburban locations. The question for the next planning cycle: will the council's housing strategy require minimum proportions of family-sized units in large-scale SDZ developments?

61 Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge D04 — Ireland's Most Resilient Micro-Market

The sale of 61 Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge for €5.75 million on 13 March 2026 is the highest residential transaction registered in the period and one of the most significant D04 sales of the year to date. The property is a second-hand dwelling in the D04Y9F7 eircode — the heart of Ballsbridge, Dublin's most consistently premium residential address. Ailesbury Road is a tree-lined avenue of Victorian and Edwardian detached houses, many of which have been converted to embassies or remain in private residential use. The street commands a premium over even the broader D04 market.

Metric	Value	Context
Transaction price	€5,750,000	Period high
Property type	Second-hand residential	D04Y9F7
Transaction date	13 March 2026	Registered 1 Apr 2026
vs. Dublin median (current period)	12x median (€478k)	Extreme outlier
vs. National median	16x median (€352k)	Extreme outlier
Comparable: 7 The Terrace, Foxrock	€2,075,000 (20 Mar 2026)	Same county
Comparable: 2 Sydenham Rd, Ballsbridge	€1,950,000 (16 Mar 2026)	Adjacent street

Why It Matters: The International Buyer Premium Ailesbury Road transactions at this price point are not driven by domestic buyers. The D04 ultra-premium market — properties above €3 million — is dominated by international buyers, returning diaspora, and senior executives of multinational companies based in Dublin. The fact that this transaction registered in mid-March 2026, against a backdrop of global geopolitical uncertainty and elevated mortgage rates, is a signal that demand at the very top of the market remains robust. The so-what for investors: the D04 premium is not correlated with the broader Irish residential market. It is correlated with global wealth flows, corporate relocation decisions, and the attractiveness of Dublin as a European business hub. The question for 2026: will the pipeline of multinational executives relocating to Dublin — partly driven by post-Brexit financial services migration — sustain D04 transaction volumes at this level, or will the market thin further as the relocation wave matures?

Key People This Period

Name	Role	Notable Activity	Connections
Paul Cunningham	Home for Life	Led €80m 'Lime' portfolio acquisition of 276 social housing units from TPG Angelo Gordon	Home for Life €80m deal
Charlie O'Reilly Hyland	Home for Life	Director — €80m social housing portfolio consolidation, total portfolio now 1,650 homes	Home for Life €80m deal
Madeleina Loughrey Grant	Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Cairn Homes	Passivhaus Institute certification secured for Charlestown, Santry, and Seven Mills developments	Cairn passive homes
Humphreys J.	High Court Judge	Delivered Doyle v An Coimisiún Pleanála [No.3] — upheld data centre planning permission, dismissed climate/EIA challenge	Clare County Council; An Coimisiún Pleanála
Max O'Reilly Hyland	Home for Life	Named in Business Post coverage of €80m Lime portfolio acquisition	Home for Life €80m deal

One to Watch: The Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ Decision

Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ — Application SDZ26A/0009W

South Dublin County Council | K78 F2R1 | Residential Development | Decision due: 6 May 2026

Metric	Value
Total units (proposed)	924
Site area	5.12 hectares
Floor area	77,452 sq m
Studio units	97 (10.5% of total)
1-bed units	460 (49.8% of total)
2-bed (4-person) units	240 (26% of total)
3-bed units	41 (4.4% of total)

The Gollierstown/Finnstown SDZ is a large-scale residential development in Lucan, south-west Dublin, originally permitted for 877 units. The March 2026 amendment seeks to add 47 units while reducing the gross floor area — achieved by replacing 77 family-sized two-bed units with 52 studios and 72 one-beds.

Why it matters: This is the most significant planning decision in the Dublin commuter belt in the first half of 2026. If South Dublin County Council approves the amendment, it will signal that planning authorities are willing to accept unit mix changes that reduce family housing in favour of smaller, higher-yield units. If refused, it will set a precedent for protecting family housing in large-scale SDZ developments. The decision will be watched closely by developers, housing advocates, and local authorities across the country. The number that matters: 77 — the number of family-sized two-bed units being removed from the scheme. Each one represents a household that will not find a family home in this development.

The Broader Picture: Courts, Companies & What Comes Next

The Irish Courts

The High Court delivered one judgment of direct relevance to the property and development sector during the period — and it is a significant one. Doyle and Ors v An Coimisiún Pleanála and Ors [No. 3], delivered by Humphreys J. on 13 March 2026, dismissed a judicial review challenge to a planning permission for a data centre development in County Clare. The applicants — environmental groups and individuals — argued that the planning commission's decision was inconsistent with Ireland's climate obligations and that the environmental impact assessment was inadequate. The court rejected all grounds, finding that the commission's decision fell within the lawful spectrum of options under climate legislation, and that conditions requiring corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) for renewable energy were sufficient to address emissions concerns.

Citation	Parties	Subject	Why It Matters
[2026] IEHC 156	Doyle & Ors v An Coimisiún Pleanála & Ors [No.3]	Data centre planning permission — climate/EIA challenge	High Court upholds permission; dismisses climate and bat fauna grounds. Clears path for Clare data centre.

  Data Centres and the Planning System: A Precedent in the Making
  The Doyle judgment is the third in a series of challenges to the same data centre planning permission — the [No.3] designation signals a persistent legal campaign by environmental groups. Humphreys J.'s dismissal of all grounds, including the novel argument that CPPAs are insufficient to address grid emissions, is a significant signal to the data centre industry: Ireland's planning system, when properly engaged, will uphold permissions that include renewable energy conditions. The so-what for property and development readers: data centres are among the largest commercial property developments in Ireland, and legal certainty around their planning permissions is a prerequisite for continued investment. This judgment, combined with the planning pipeline data showing continued residential development activity, suggests that the Irish planning system is functioning — slowly, but functioning. Watch for further challenges to data centre permissions in Clare, Meath, and Dublin over the coming months.

The Companies Registration Office

CRO data for the period 12–16 March 2026 returned no new company registrations in the standard search window — a data lag that is typical for this timeframe, as the CRO typically processes registrations with a 4–6 week delay. 0 new companies were registered during the broader March 2026 period, with 0 companies showing activity. Business name registrations for the period stand at 193, with 867 showing activity. The absence of real-time CRO data for this specific window is a known limitation of the register — readers seeking company formation data for this period should check the CRO directly in late April 2026 when the lag clears.

Property Markets & Plans

Beyond the transaction and planning data covered in the main sections, the Business Post reported that three consortia are competing for the long-awaited Cork events centre — a €150 million-plus development that would be one of the largest commercial property projects in Cork in a generation. The three competing proposals — BAM's 6,000-seat arena on the former Beamish brewery site, Tom Coughlan's 4,000–5,000-seat facility at the Marina Market, and Cork GAA's 10,000–12,000-seat event space adjacent to Páirc Uí Chaoimh — represent very different visions for Cork's commercial property landscape. Cork City Council is expected to shortlist three applicants for the dialogue phase in the coming weeks.

Project	Location	Capacity	Applicant	Status
Cork Events Centre	Former Beamish Brewery, Cork	6,000 seats	BAM	Suitability questionnaire
Cork Events Centre	Marina Market, Cork Docklands	4,000–5,000 seats	Tom Coughlan	Suitability questionnaire
Cork Events Centre	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork	10,000–12,000 seats	Cork GAA	Suitability questionnaire

Cork's Commercial Property Moment The Cork events centre competition is not just a cultural infrastructure story — it is a commercial property story. Whichever consortium wins will anchor a significant mixed-use development in one of Cork's most strategically important locations. The Beamish brewery site, the Marina Market, and the Páirc Uí Chaoimh corridor are all areas where the events centre would catalyse further commercial and residential development. Cork's transaction data this period — 55 transactions at an average of €371,000, up 7.7% on the previous period — suggests a market that is absorbing demand steadily. The events centre, if delivered, would add a significant demand driver for the city's commercial property market. Watch for Cork City Council's shortlist announcement in May 2026.

The Week Ahead

The period 12–16 March 2026 will be remembered as a week in which the Irish property market's structural tensions were laid bare in the planning register. The Lucan SDZ amendment — more studios, fewer family homes, same footprint — is a microcosm of the broader debate about what kind of housing Ireland is actually building. The mica remediation wave in Donegal is a reminder that the housing crisis has multiple dimensions: it is not only about supply, but about the quality and durability of the stock that already exists. And the €5.75 million Ailesbury Road sale is a reminder that at the very top of the market, Ireland's property prices are set by global forces that domestic policy cannot easily influence.

  The Bottom Line
  The single most important takeaway from this period is not the Dublin price surge — that is a statistical artefact. It is the Lucan SDZ amendment. A developer seeking to replace 77 family homes with 124 smaller units in a single planning application is a data point that tells you more about the economics of Irish housing development in 2026 than any average price statistic. The planning system's response to this amendment — due by 6 May 2026 — will be a bellwether for whether Ireland's housing policy can hold the line on family-sized supply.

What to Watch:

South Dublin County Council's decision on SDZ26A/0009W by 6 May 2026 — approve or refuse the unit mix amendment that removes 77 family homes from the Lucan SDZ. This is the planning decision of the quarter for the Dublin commuter belt.

The pace of mica remediation applications in Donegal — if the current rate of 20+ applications per week continues, the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme will generate hundreds of planning applications through 2026, creating a significant construction pipeline in the north-west.

Cork City Council's events centre shortlist — expected in May 2026 — will determine which of the three competing visions for Cork's commercial property landscape moves to the dialogue phase. The €150 million-plus project is the largest commercial development decision in Cork in a generation.