6.19.02 - Belfast Telegraph

Bono and the rest of U2 will get a replacement studio in Dublin's docklands

SUPERGROUP U2 has lost the fight to save their Dublin docklands recording studio from demolition to make way for a 2bn euro development.

But the band has reached agreement for a replacement studio building which will enable them to remain in the docklands area, it was later announced. The deal between U2 and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) for a replacement studio emerged after Bord Pleanala (the Irish planning authority) gave the green light for the compulsory purchase by the authority of the band's recording studios at Hanover Quay in the Grand Canal Dock area of Ringsend.

U2 had fought a major planning battle to prevent the studios from being levelled after the band had formally objecting to the move.

A statement issued on behalf of the band's management said arrangements had been made with the authority to allow the band to say in the docklands area "in a new building."

The existing studios are being levelled as part of a rejuvenation plan which includes 1,200 new homes and the creation of 20,000 jobs in a development of shops, restaurants, bars and an open-air amphitheatre for concerts.

The DDDA plans to knock down the Hanover Quay buildings to allow public access to the water through a new civic square.

The 24-acre site is being transformed into a cultural centre it is hoped will rival Dublin's Temple Bar.

The Bord Pleanala oral hearing into objections to the development had heard that U2 had invested heavily in the development of the studios over the past seven years and had recorded four albums there.

Representatives of U2 told the inquiry in January there was no good reason to demolish the studios which they said should be retained.

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