On a busy stretch of Ballsbridge, the four‑storey building at number 20 Upper Baggot Street has quietly changed hands: the irish times account notes a private Irish investor paid about €1. 35 million for the property that houses a well‑known Mexican‑style restaurant and short‑term office lets. Across town, the Dáil chamber has been convulsed by furious exchanges after the Taoiseach’s handling of what has been dubbed Operation Septic Turkey.
How Irish Times coverage captured a Dublin 4 property story
The property at 20 Upper Baggot Street sits immediately adjacent to the former Baggot Street Hospital and amid a strong retail and restaurant lineup that includes Tesco, Boots, John Taylor Menswear, Searsons, Bunsen and Saba. The entire building totals 281 sq m (3, 025 sq ft) across four floors and is generating total rental income of €95, 000.
On the ground floor a Mexican‑style restaurant, Tula, occupies the space under a 10‑year lease that began in February 2023 and is subject to a reserved rent of €72, 500 annually. Upper floors include a portion let on a number of short‑term leases bringing in about €22, 500 a year, while remaining office space carries an estimated rental value between €25, 000 and €30, 000. The buyer stands to secure a net initial yield of 6. 4 per cent, assuming standard purchaser’s costs of 9. 96 per cent.
“We are delighted to have completed this sale, ” said Nigel Kingston of Colliers. “This transaction reflects sustained investor appetite for well‑established commercial locations in Dublin 4. With a secure restaurant tenant and flexible upper‑floor offices, the property offers an excellent balance of immediate income and future upside potential. ” The building’s proximity to St Stephen’s Green and the villages of Donnybrook, Ballsbridge and Ranelagh, and to corporate occupiers including Bank of Ireland, LinkedIn and Stripe, underpinned buyer interest. The sale sits beside a separate deal for the former Baggot Street Hospital that has been agreed with the owners of the nearby Dylan Hotel.
Dáil fury over “Operation Septic Turkey”: the human moment
The same day that market headlines traced investor moves in Dublin 4, politicians traded blows in the Dáil over international events. The Taoiseach faced sustained pressure for not explicitly condemning the United States for ordering missile strikes on Iran, and his language — a repeated invocation of a “rules‑based international order” and a “multilateral rules‑based order” — fuelled frustration on Opposition benches.
He defended his stance by stressing respect for international law while also condemning atrocities committed by the regime in Tehran. “I’m a multilateralist, ” he told Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, and argued for de‑escalation and a return to the negotiating table. He acknowledged there were “issues, no questions, in terms of where we are. ”
Opposition leaders demanded a clearer denunciation of the military action, and further fury was provoked when the Taoiseach spoke of alleged financial support by an overseas branch of an Irish political organisation for MAGA‑aligned Republican politicians. Labour leader Ivana Bacik, he acknowledged, had long spoken out about repressive and violent regimes.
What it means: markets, politics and possible responses
Two short narratives — a property sale and a bruising parliamentary session — point to different forms of instability and confidence. In the commercial quarter, the sale of 20 Upper Baggot Street and the figures that accompany it sketch a conventional investor calculus: secure tenancy, immediate income and upside from flexible office space. Nigel Kingston framed the transaction as evidence of ongoing appetite for established commercial locations.
In the chamber, the political moment centres on posture and words: whether leaders explicitly condemn allies’ actions, how they balance multilateral principles with geopolitical realities, and how those choices land with voters and colleagues. The Taoiseach’s rhetorical emphasis on a rules‑based order and calls for de‑escalation were his immediate responses to the crisis of confidence on the benches.
Practically, the property sale points to capital flows that reward stability in neighbourhoods with mixed retail and office demand. Politically, the exchanges reveal a legislature testing the limits of message discipline when international events collide with domestic expectations of moral clarity.
Back on Upper Baggot Street, the brick façade that once simply sheltered a restaurant and offices now belongs to a new private investor whose purchase price and income stream will be measured against wider market shifts. In the Dáil, a leader’s repeated phrase about a “rules‑based international order” will be weighed against a chorus demanding blunt condemnation — two different reckonings, each with consequences for how the city and the state understand security, confidence and accountability.
