The vacant church building is owned by Fáilte Ireland and was formerly used as a tourist information centre. It has largely become known for the Molly Malone statue perched outside.
The property is almost 20,000 sq ft over three levels in the heart of Dublin city centre and adjacent to the prime shopping area of Grafton Street.
St Andrew’s is a former protestant church which was originally situated on Dame Street. The building fell into disuse, and was re-founded on the present-day site in 1670.
By 1750, the building had fallen into a state of disrepair and by 1790 had completely deteriorated.
In 1803, a considerable investment was made to construct a second church on the site. This was completed in 1807, but was burned to the ground by an accidental fire in 1860.
The present-day building was constructed and consecrated in 1866. In more recent times, the building was used as The Visit Dublin Centre between 1996 and 2014.
Now, Fáilte Ireland wants to develop a new food hall at the site as a way to tap into the country’s food heritage and attract culinary tourists to the capital.
In a letter to Dublin City Council, Fáilte Ireland said: “In order to generate and sustain further economic opportunity and economic development we need to create iconic food and drink experiences – the proposed change of use and redevelopment of St Andrew’s would be the embodiment of that vision.
“It is envisaged that the proposed food hall will showcase the best of local and Irish produce within a very high-quality setting which will not only reinvigorate but repurpose part of our capital city’s historic building inventory.”
According to Fáilte Ireland, food tourism generates around €2bn to the Irish economy each year and they feel the need to create iconic food and drink experiences with the proposed food hall showcasing Irish produce.
Planning documents highlight that the new food hall has the potential to generate 30 to 40 full and part-time jobs.