Premier Inn signals more regional growth in Ireland following the granting of planning permission for its second Cork hotel
Whitbread plc, the parent company of Premier Inn, has signalled further expansion of its well-known hotel brand in Ireland after securing planning permission for a second location in Cork.
Plans for a 174-room Premier Inn to the east of Cork City Centre was awarded a final planning grant today [28th October 2025] paving the way for construction to begin in early 2026 – approximately two years after the opening of its first hotel on Morrisons Quay.
The company has set its sights on achieving a network of 5,000 Premier Inn rooms across Ireland, with six hotels currently trading in the country, as it seeks to replicate the success of the brand in the UK.
Matt Gent, Development Manager for Ireland, said:
“A key ingredient to Premier Inn’s success is its wide customer appeal. The brand works equally well in popular towns and leisure locations as it does in global destinations such as Dublin, London, Berlin and Dubai.
“It’s one of the reasons why we believe so strongly in the opportunity for Premier Inn in locations right across Ireland – as well as in Dublin – and why we uplifted our network target to 5,000 Premier Inn rooms and eleven target regional locations.
“We have always felt very welcome in Cork ever since we opened the doors to our first hotel in January 2024. Securing a planning grant for a second hotel is wonderful news for us and our customers, and I’m grateful to everyone who has been involved in getting us to this stage.
“With our success here, I am hoping it won’t be long before I can share more positive news of our growth across the country and take another step in delivering against our ambitions for 5,000 Premier Inn rooms in Ireland.”
Whitbread has operated a Premier Inn hotel at Swords, near Dublin Airport since 2007 but it wasn’t until the opening of its 97-room hotel in Stephen Street Lower, D2 in 2021 that Premier Inn had a presence in Dublin City Centre.
It now offers its customers a choice of more than 800 rooms across five trading hotels in the city in addition to the 187-room hotel in Cork.
Last summer, the business uplifted its ambition for a network of hotels across Ireland, seeking a brand presence in eleven regional locations where it wishes to focus its expansion alongside further growth in the capital.
These include tourist hotspots such as Killarney, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Sligo, Tralee and Westport as well as growth in larger towns and cities of Galway, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. Opportunities for Premier Inn in four Outer-Dublin locations are also being sought by the business.
The final grant of planning consent at Cork’s former Leisureplex site grows the number of Premier Inn hotels that are either on-site or in the pre-development phase to five new locations.
These include two new major Dublin city centre hotels at O’Connell Street and Jervis St – both of which are scheduled to open in 2027 – as well as new locations at Ushers Quay, D8 and Sandyford Business Park, D18.
Construction of the second Dublin Premier Inn is expected in 2026 with a target opening in the 2028 calendar year.
