Fáilte Ireland is looking to tap into the country’s food heritage by developing a new food hall in the centre of Dublin in a bid to attract culinary tourists to the capital.
Food tourism already brings in around €2bn to the Irish economy every year.
And now, Fáilte Ireland wants to change the use of the St Andrew’s Church site on Dublin’s Suffolk Street into a food hall.
The site is currently vacant and has been used, in the past, for Fáilte Ireland’s Dublin Tourism Office.
Under different owners, it was also eyeballed for – just that – a food hall, before plans were scrapped when the pandemic hit.
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.”
