Ireland's tallest building opens its doors

IRELAND'S tallest building was officially unveiled last night, with the 17-storey Elysian now dominating the Cork city skyscape.

The €150m Elysian, a 71-metre-high tower-block complex beside Cork City Hall, is the brainchild of multi-millionaire developer Michael O'Flynn, and aims to herald the redevelopment of Cork's sprawling docklands.

It is now officially Ireland's tallest structure -- ahead of both Dublin's Liberty Hall and Cork's County Hall.

The Elysian was formally opened last night by Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin, Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe, and Irish rugby star Ronan O'Gara.

Set in three acres, the lavish development features 211 luxury apartments, which range in price from €375,000 to a cool €2m.

The latter boast spectacular views of the city and surrounding countryside to a distance of almost 10km.

The Elysian also boasts ground-floor retail units, as well as pubs and restaurants.

Symbols

It will now dominate Cork city centre with its 17-storey tower joining Shandon Bells and St Fin Barre's as symbols of the city.

Mr O'Flynn hailed the Elysian as "totally unique in Ireland" -- with the project even including an enclosed, one-acre Japanese garden. "We believe this project ranks alongside the very finest developments of its type in London, Paris or anywhere else."

Trish Stokes, of selling agents Sherry Fitzgerald, admitted The Elysian had attracted enormous interest. "There is an owner-occupier market and this will appeal to a broad range of age groups who want a very special cosmopolitan contemporary setting in keeping with that available in other modern European cities," she said.

Ralph Riegel
Irish Independent

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