JDW’s Tim Martin confirms Dublin pub plan: JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has told Propel that the company is planning to re-enter the Dublin market ten years after it abandoned its first attempt to open in the city. Martin said there was the ‘potential’ to open as many as six pubs in Dublin if it is successful at its first opening. “We have made a few offers on sites in the Republic of Ireland. Nothing has been signed or sealed. We believe there is an opportunity to do well there.” The market, although still not cheap, is more affordable than ten years ago – at that point you could open ten pubs in the UK for the cost of a Dublin pub, he told Propel today. The Irish Times has reported that the company, which already runs nine pubs in Northern Ireland, is about to buy The Tonic public house in Blackrock village, on the coast five miles south of Dublin city centre. The pub and restaurant on the ground floor cover about 5,200 square feet, while an upstairs nightclub, which can hold about 350 people, covers 4,100 square feet. Wetherspoon is reported to be spending €1 million on buying the freehold of the pub. The property is currently being advertised for sale by the estate agents Morrissey’s and Bannon, whose website says terms have been agreed on the premises. The sales brochure says the pub, bistro and nightclub at the premises continue to trade successfully and it has “medium-term redevelopment potential”. It is currently being managed on behalf of AIB and pays about €45,000 in rates to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Wetherspoon was due to open in Dublin some ten years ago when it acquired the freehold on a furniture warehouse in the heart of the city for more than €2 million. However, high potential costs caused the company to pull out, and it was reported to have disposed of the premises at a loss. The pub trade in Dublin has seen five years of steady decline since 2008, with consumers cutting spending on drink in the face of high pub prices and the global financial crisis, which hit the Irish economy very hard, are now drinking more at home than in pubs. Wetherspoon is reported to be scouting for other sites in Dublin.