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Dunne and Desmond at odds again

Siobhan Connor

Sean Dunne and Dermot Desmond: clashing over plans for Hume House in Dublin 4

Sean Dunne

Dermot Desmond

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Billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond has clashed again with developer Sean Dunne over his plans to redevelop a site in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Desmond said Dunne's plan to develop a new building on the site of Hume House was a "blatant effort to shoehorn the maximum amount of usable space on the site".

Desmond objected to the proposed development claiming that in a massively over-supplied office space market, the proposal would simply make more office space available where a glut already exists.

"There is no proper justification for the size and scale and extent of the development proposed," he said.

Desmond ,who in the past opposed Dunne's plans for the Jurys Ballsbridge site, wrote that "the proposed development represents over-development of this site" and that it would be "visually obtrusive".

In a six-page objection, Desmond wrote that the "proposed development involves the construction of 19,439sq m of space – over twice the existing" building's size. He wrote that this represents an inappropriate and excessive development with the plot being more appropriate to city centre sites or within regeneration areas.

He also believes that the "design and finish of the proposed development is of unexceptional, even poor, quality".

Dunne swapped an office building in Dublin's docklands for the Ballsbridge office block in a deal that valued the property at €130m.