North Dublin councillors have decided they have no alternative but to accept a stalled town centre development at Belmayne.
Developers Stanley Holdings told Dublin City Council last month that they were pulling out of an agreement to pay €60m for a site to build a public square and social housing.
Acting Assistant City Manager Declan Wallace said the council may have negotiated too high a price and added that no contract had been signed.
Mr Wallace said the developers who have spent €1.5m the project so far felt it would be madness to risk another €5m on a down payment.
The meeting agreed to allow the developers to go ahead in applying for planning permission 'without predjudice' in the hope the situation improves in two years time.
Mr Wallace said there was no guarantee the developers would agree to the price then, in which case the land would be put out to public tender
