A Freedom of Information Act request released to The University Times has revealed that Trinity College Dublin spent a total of €198,467 on refurbishing the Perch Café.
Conducted over four weeks in July/August 2025, the works were initially quoted at €244,369 (including VAT), making the final total expenditure €45,902 under the approved budget.
The project covered the installation of a new cash point, enhanced and more energy-efficient refrigerators (which was end of life), energy-efficient LED lighting, as well as an accessible till point and coffee counter.
In the decision letter released to The University Times, the Head of Catering, Moira O’Brien, explained that the Perch refurbishment came as a response to issues with customer flow, restrictions in food choices, and equipment reliability, which the Catering Department had identified as negatively impacting the customer experience.
The Perch is the Catering Department’s second busiest outlet after the Buttery, and was last refurbished nine years ago. According to Simon Ali, who works for the Catering Department in The Perch, the café was in need of a “facelift”: “With any type of business, you need from time to time to have a facelift, to update it,” he told The University Times.
Ali also highlighted how the new tills had made the Perch more efficient, highlighting how the congestion had been resolved by eliminating “the entourage” or “bodyguards”, as he jokingly called stragglers in the café, which “make the place look more busy than it is”.
Ali further explained that he had noticed higher student intake this year, as he told The University Times: “Personally, I feel like we’ve got more students – at the same time the tourist season is always ongoing.”
Although acknowledging that a lot of money had gone into the refurbishment, Ali said that he was “more than happy”, emphasising how “from time to time, you need to spend the money and make the place look nice”.
“It’s not for me, but for the students and for visitors”, he remarks.
The budgeted estimate was approved by the Capital Review Group (CRG), a decision-making body in College that reviews and approves capital projects with a value in excess of €50,000, as part of the Capital Project governance process.
