The Iveagh Market in Dublin has been 'repossessed' by a member of the Guinness family according to Dublin City Council.
The representative for Lord Iveagh informed the council of their decision to invoke a 'reverter' clause in the original 1906 Deed of Conveyance, as reported by the Irish Times, because the building has not been used as a market venue for over 20 years.
The property has been derelict for all that time and has become the subject of legal action between the council and hotelier Martin Keane.
Mr Keane has applied to redevelop the site in Dublin city centre into a food hall with restaurants, a distillery, a brewery and craft workshops, but the application was ultimately declared invalid by the council in January.
The reasoning behind the council's decision included uncertainty as to whether Mr Keane had "secured the appropriate funding" and that the application had been lodged without the landowner's (the council) permission.
The Iveagh Market was originally built to house street traders after they were displaced by the construction of the Iveagh Trust.
The council originally sought applications from private developers to renovate the market in 1996, which Mr Keane later secured the tender for.
Subsequently, an ownership row developed between the Iveagh Trust, held by the Guinness family, and Dublin Corporation delaying any work until the issue was resolved in 2004.
