3 Hynes Yard , Merchants Road , Galway

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• Change of use planning permission in Ireland — 84% granted, short-term letting 2 in 6Dublin councils granted 455 of the 544 change-of-use applications they decided in the 12 months to September 2026. What a material change of use is, which changes are exempt under Part 4, and why short-term letting is refused more than any other.
• Student accommodation planning applications in Dublin — 28 files in three years and what they showTwenty-eight applications mentioning student accommodation reached the Greater Dublin registers in 36 months, 14 granted and 3 refused. The purpose-built schemes of the SHD years are now on the register as extensions of duration and amendments; the new files are pubs and offices in Maynooth and Dublin 1 converting to student rooms, and the one refusal is a five-storey block at Harold's Cross. Every file linked.
• Further information requests on a planning application — 21% of Dublin files, six months to reply21% of applications received by Dublin councils in the year to September 2026 drew a further information request. What the council is asking, the six-month deadline, what "significant" FI triggers, and what it does to neighbours' rights.
• 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.