Dragons' Den judge Niall O'Farrell has secured planning permission to demolish a house he bought on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin 4 for €7.5m and to construct a new house on the site.

Following Dublin City Council's decision to give the project the go-ahead, Black Tie founder and property developer O'Farrell will be able to develop a 985sq m house, equivalent in size to about nine standard three-bedroom semi-detached houses.

The Belgian ambassador supported O'Farrell's plan but it was opposed by solicitor Brian O'Donnell and David McCann of Fyffes.

The new house will be more than double the size of the existing three-storey house which is close to the junction with Ailesbury Road and was originally built by concert promoter Harry Crosbie before becoming home to one of the McCormacks, who are involved in property development.

The plan was approved subject to eight standard conditions, one of which is that the new gate and piers to the front boundary will be relocated to the position of the existing front gate entrance.

O'Farrell has put his own seven-bedroom house on the street up for sale with an asking price of €14m. It was developed on part of the grounds of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland which he bought in December 1998, before selling almost half of the land to developer Sean Dunne who then constructed his own house there.