English: A really, really ugly structure.

The Irish State occupied some of the most horrible buildings in Dublin and many of them still remain as unoccupied eyesores.

There was a serious fire in this building at the end of October 2014 and at the time there was concern about possible loss of life because the building was occupied by people sleeping rough. Fortunately no one suffered any physical injury as a result of the fire.

The six-storey River House at Chancery Street has been owned for the past 15 years by developers Joe and Patrick Linders who recently renewed a planning permission to redevelop the complex and double its capacity. My understanding is that the Linders have sold the block earlier this year and it is rumoured that the new owner plans to sell it on to be redeveloped as high quality office space that should be of interest to UK legal firms planning to relocate to Dublin as a result of Brexit.

In 1987, the building was the subject of an unusual legal dispute. Frank McDonald in his book ‘The Destruction of Dublin’ attributed the design of the building to John Thompson and Partners but they sued for damages on the grounds they had nothing to do with the design of River House.