Planning permission has been granted for a 155-bedroom hotel on the site of Andrew Lane's Theatre on Dame Street.

The application was made by Appalachian Property Holdings and the total investment into the land will be about €21m.

The bedrooms in the hotel will be 'pod-like', which have become popular in places like New York and Japan.

There will also be a reception area and coffee dock on the ground floor of the hotel.

Appalachian Property Holdings (which is owned by the same people as KeyWaste) hope to open the hotel by spring 2019.

“Its primary target audience comprises of well-informed, contemporary and tech-savvy business and leisure individuals who want style, location and value for money,” the planning permission document states.

“This is reflected throughout the ‘limited service’ hotel with sophisticated technology assisting the guests from self-service check-in to compact sophisticated bedrooms, which provide guests with the ability to customise their own environment," the document added.