McDonald's Restaurants of Ireland Ltd has secured planning permission from Cavan County Council for a major upgrade of its outlet on the outskirts of Cavan town. The approval comes a year after the Dublin Road property sold for close to €2 million. The upgrade works include demolition of the existing sliding entrance door and changes to the exterior, along with internal layout modifications to the kitchen and dining area and all associated works to facilitate these changes.

The approved plans also allow for landscaping, including works to the external patio area and relocation of the outdoor furniture and seating area, along with a relined car park and new road markings across the site.

The permission was granted by Cavan County Council subject to four conditions attached to the approval.

Accounts filed for McDonald's Restaurants of Ireland Ltd show pre-tax profits of €36.32 million on revenue of €85.65 million in 2023, though figures for the Cavan restaurant are not reported separately.

The restaurant sits at Pullamore Business Park on the N3 Dublin to Cavan road, a drive-through site that was placed on the market alongside a sister restaurant in Shannon, Co Clare, guided at a combined €3 million in early 2025, before the Cavan property sold separately for close to €2 million.

The structural driver is upgrading an already let, income producing drive-through asset shortly after a change of ownership, aligning the property with McDonald's wider restaurant modernisation programme rather than replacing the site outright.

The Cavan restaurant has previously been highlighted as a significant local employer and contributor to the town's economy, supporting jobs alongside its long-standing drive-through operation on the N3 corridor.

For the sector, the Cavan approval reflects a wider pattern of quick service operators upgrading recently sold, income-generating drive-through sites rather than pursuing new-build development.

Source: Northern Sound / Irish Times / Anglo Celt