The Printing House Square development is expected to be finished by the end of the summer depending on national restrictions.
Prof Kevin O’Kelly, the project sponsor, has also stated that discussions are ongoing with the accommodation office to open accommodation in the development up to students by the second semester of the 2021/22 academic year.
In a meeting of College Board late last month, Joe Linders, the independent chair of the development’s steering committee, said that an exact date of completion was hard to pin down.
According to minutes of the meeting, this was because “there appeared to be difficulties on the part of the contractor in providing appropriate resources”.
The Printing House Square development has been plagued with delays over the years, with the coronavirus having a halting effect on its completion.
In November of last year, this newspaper reported that Printing House Square would likely open this spring, after the development was slowed due to contracting issues and coronavirus measures.
When planning permission was granted for the build, it was projected to be completed in 2018. But a number of setbacks created by An Taisce and An Bord Pleanála held up the complex, with An Bord Pleanála arguing that the construction could compromise the existing aesthetic of Dublin city centre.
When these issues were eventually resolved, the project was then given a revised completion date of August 1st, 2019, in time to house students for the 2019/20 academic year.
At the beginning of July 2019, the project was nine per cent behind schedule, and it was reported in September 2019 that the build had hit more roadblocks and was less than 50 per cent completed at the end of August, far behind where College hoped it would be.
As well as housing students, Printing House Square will provide a new home for the College Health and Disability Service.
The building will also house squash and racquetball courts and a renovated rifle range, as well as ergonomically sound seminar rooms. The student apartments will be arranged in groups of six ensuite rooms, all connected to a communal kitchen space.
