THE SQUARE, THE SQUARE, TOWN LOTS,

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• Retention planning permission in Ireland — refused 27% of the time, against 7% for extensionsOne in six Dublin applications is for retention, and 27% of retention decisions in the two years to September 2026 were refusals. When you need it, the treble fee, the seven-year rule and the sale-time problem.
• Hotel and aparthotel planning applications in Dublin — 253 files in three years, three-quarters of them in the city253 applications mentioning a hotel, aparthotel or hostel reached the Greater Dublin registers in 36 months, 141 granted and 35 refused. Dublin City holds 185 of them, and the live files are the big ones — a ten-year permission on the Citigroup building at North Wall Quay, a 188-bedroom hotel at Drogheda's IDA park, a nightclub on Dame Court turning into a 14-room boutique hotel. What the files are, where they are refused, and every recent one linked.
• An Bord Pleanála appeal, now An Coimisiún Pleanála — four weeks, €220, and a 25% reversal rateThe Commission reversed the council in 25% of the 1,195 Dublin-area appeals decided in the two years to September 2026. Who can appeal, the four weeks, the €220 fee, why 240 appeals a year fail on procedure, and the odds by direction.
• The most refused planning application types in Dublin — retention first, apartments second, extensions lastRetention applications were refused 27% of the time across the Greater Dublin councils in 12 months (140 of 510 decided), apartments 20%, new houses 15% and extensions 7%. The refusal share by development type, why the mix matters more than the council, and what the register says about where each type fails.