The future of the U2 tower in Dublin's south docks is to be debated by the board of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) after it missed its revised deadline to reach agreement with the preferred bidder for the building.


The authority announced last year it was suspending negotiations regarding the development for up to 12 months "to allow for an improvement in the current uncertainty surrounding the property and financial markets". The property market and general economic conditions have deteriorated since then. "The end of October was the deadline date. We are now reviewing our options for consideration by the board," a spokeswoman for the DDDA said last week.


The Geranger consortium – comprising developers Sean Mulryan of Ballymore and Paddy McKillen as well as U2 itself – remains interested but does not expect the project to move forward for the foreseeable future.


The consortium bid about €100m for the site but no deal was concluded, with the subject of whether the deposit would be refundable or not proving a major sticking point, according to informed sources.