The Merrion Square tearooms were supposed to open last spring, but are still under construction. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien“Significant delays” and “exceptionally high building inflation” are being blamed for a decade-long plan to build new tearooms at a Dublin city centre park going over time and over budget. The 2024 audit report on Dublin City Council (DCC) found the costs for consultant architects for the Merrion Square tearooms had risen from €246,000 in 2015 to €655,000 in 2024. The local authority declined to tell The Irish Times what the final cost of the project was expected to be. In response to the audit, DCC agreed it was not “fully” compliant with the rules.
