This list leaves me with a few severely problematic licences - from pubs that have become off-licences (in the case of the Dunnes on Newtownpark Avenue, I actually had a pint there when it was still a pub - but the un-named off-licence on Parnell Street still eludes me) - to pubs that haven't been open in decades like Dolly Heffernans. But there's one licence in particular that is sitting unused for the guts of 20 years now, and has a particularly interesting history.
S3543 - The Icon Centre, Leopardstown; as its Register entry calls it, is renewed every year without fail; but unless a current planning appeal goes through and is acted on, it is highly unlikely I will ever get to drink there. And, as time marches on, the information I was able to find about it a few years ago is continuing to vanish off the 'net, so I should document it while I can
In the late 1990s, Diageo decided that they needed a "visitor experience" for their cream liquer brand Baileys. They had the ever successful Guinness Storehouse under their belt, and presumably felt that this beloved brand had similar powers to attract tourists - possibly forgetting that is mostly beloved at Christmas, and not peak tourist season!
As Baileys was invented by a marketer in London (I strongly recommend getting that book, albeit it covers nothing relevant to this article); there wasn't an obvious home for it - so, bafflingly, it was decided to put the visitor centre out at Leopardstown Racecourse.
A new building was built to the North of the existing racecourse structures, and was initially liquor licenced in December 1998; and is cited as having cost anywhere from £6.5m (€8.25m) to £11-11.5m (~€14-14.6m) to construct and fit out; the latter figure being far more commonly referenced.
The name may suggest something like the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons, but based on contemporary documents, what you got was instead a trip through a rather twee idealised Ireland.
"It is Ireland now and Ireland then. It is a tribute to our Celtic roots, a window on our global future. It is town and country, river and sea" went the press release, according to an extract in the Herald on April 15, 1999; as the centre opened to the public.
Five levels of 'attraction', three bars, a Kilkenny store and restaurants filled out the ~1850sqm. But nobody cared.
It was close to inaccessible - the Luas extension which runs near the Racecourse would not open 2010; and in a case of the bitrot of info about this I referenced before, I'm fairly sure I have seen photos of the fleet of Dublin Bus operated, single-decker buses used to bring people from the City Centre out to the Icon Centre - but I can't find them now; but they did exist - at a significant cost to the operators.
edit: Twitter, or a twitter user more accurately, delivers by directing me to this MyDublinBus photo of one of the two buses
AD53 is seen operating the Icon shuttle route 600. #dublinbus #ad53 #baileys pic.twitter.com/4yPsTVR4Rn
— My DublinBus (@myDublinbus) November 18, 2019
The centre was constantly hiring throughout 1999, and there were some reports of various conferences being held there throughout 1999 and 2000, including its hosting of the finals the Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year; and also the official launch of my former employers, Q102 (then known as Lite FM) in May 2000. But conferences were not going to be the bread and butter of a visitor attraction.
So, almost inevitably, 2001 started with the announcement that it was closing down. The Icon Centre had all of 20 months of public opening.
One of the last public events there was the launch of the Jordan EJ11 F1 car, which performed better than expected and brought Jordan to 4th in the constructors championship - not in fitting with the performance of the centre!
Despite this failure, Sarner, the design consultants behind the Icon Centre seem to still be quite proud of their work, providing the only easily accessible images of the interior of the attraction; and still referencing it in advertisements for their services as late as the April 2016 issue of the World of Hospitality magazine.
After closure, The Rocksy nightclub operated from here for a few years; another victim of the bit-rot that happens to older online resources - particularly as any early social media stuff is now totally gone. But the liquor licence hasn't been used since.
McGuirks Golf currently occupy part of the structure, and the racecourse have sought to convert the rest back to some form of recreational use, retaining alcohol sales - that being the issue behind the current planning appeal.
Wow, I have no memory of this at all, though I was out of town from August 1999 to May 2000. The Guinness Storehouse didn't open until late 2000, btw. In the '90s their brand museum was the Hop Store on Crane Street.
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