Lemongrass owner Camilla Grey says closure order is still in place two weeks later and claims Tetrarch is falsely blaming gardaí for it
Lemongrass restaurant owner Camilla Grey claims a closure order handed to her by her landlord, Tetrarch, during the riots is still being used almost a fortnight later to deny the restaurant’s staff and customers access to the site.
After the first night of rioting, Grey – whose restaurant is in the Tetrarch-owned Golf Hotel on the campus – was handed a temporary closure notice from Tetrarch “as a security precaution, due to planned protests in the immediate vicinity of the Citywest Campus”.
Aftermath of the riots in Citywest, Dublin last month. Photo: PA
“This decision has been made on foot of a direction received from the Garda Síochána,” it said.
But Grey, who has operated the restaurant at Citywest since 2009, says she has since been informed in writing by a senior garda that the force had restricted access to the campus during the violent disturbances but was “not involved in any decision regarding any closure, or otherwise, of your business”.
Grey, whose restaurant is accessed through the lobby of the Tetrarch-owned Golf Hotel, has not been able to reopen Lemongrass at Citywest since the riots but has continued to pay its 35 workers. The only communication she says she has received from her landlord since has been an invoice for its €9,225 monthly rent.
In September, Tetrarch, a prominent real estate investor, sold much of the campus to the Government for a reported €148m. The main Citywest hotel operates as an IPAS centre but Tetrarch has retained ownership of the Golf Hotel – rebranded as Cityark Aparthotel.
In June 2022, the Citywest landlord served a forfeiture notice on Lemongrass but this was rebutted and has not since been further pursued, said Grey.
Way Tetrarch has operated Citywest has been ‘fundamentally inconsistent’ with lease Lemongrass ho lds
Grey has fought a long-running battle with Tetrarch since it bought the campus out of receivership in 2014.
She claims that her landlord is seeking to end Lemongrass’s Golf Hotel lease to allow it have vacant possession so that it can also be turned into emergency accommodation and had even considered having the hotel condemned, according to court documents.
‘I’m left with no alternative but to assume that this case will proceed to the High Court,’ said Lemongrass restaurant owner Camilla Grey
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Saturday November 2
Earlier this year Greysal Restaurants, which trades as Lemongrass, launched a High Court action seeking €5.8m in compensation from Tetrarch, claiming the way Tetrarch has operated Citywest in recent years has been “fundamentally inconsistent” with the lease Lemongrass holds.
This, it is claimed, has arisen firstly because of a commercial arrangement Tetrarch had with the HSE to turn parts of the campus into an emergency response centre for Covid-19 and then to use it for the provision of emergency accommodation.
Tetrarch had “generated very substantial income and profits by using the Citywest Complex” in this manner and “income and profits have been generated, either wholly or in part, at the expense of” Lemongrass, according to a statement of claim lodged with the court.
When contacted, a spokesman for Tetrarch declined to comment.
Asked to comment, Grey said that “Tetrarch’s behaviour is sadly unsurprising given the way they have treated their tenant over the past five years, all while Tetrarch has earned hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money from the operation and sale of the campus in that same period.
“They have shown no regard whatsoever for the 35 staff now sitting at home, uncertain about their future.
“Their attempt to shift blame for the closure onto gardaí is both false and indicative of their ongoing pattern of conduct,” she said.
She said the Lemongrass business had been built over 22 years and “it has been the loyalty and support of our customers that kept Lemongrass Fusion afloat through extraordinary challenges.
I have the utmost faith in my legal team and the strength of our underlying case
“I remain deeply grateful to them. I’m left with no alternative but to assume that this case will proceed to the High Court – I have the utmost faith in my legal team and the strength of our underlying case, and I am confident that justice will prevail,” said Grey.
A week before the riots, lawyers on behalf of Lemongrass made a complaint to South Dublin County Council about an alleged planning violation by Tetrarch.
In the report it was claimed that Tetrarch had breached planning restrictions for the Golf Hotel by using some rooms on a long-stay basis “to accommodate displaced persons and international protection applicants”.
In a statement An Garda Síochána said it was “continuing to liaise with the local community in the Saggart area, including residents, businesses and other parties affected by the disruption caused following the serious public disorder that occurred in the area last week and potential for further public gatherings.
“An Garda Síochána response to this dynamic and evolving situation is and will be fair and proportionate in line with Policing Principles and Functions of An Garda Síochána as set out in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024,” said the statement.