O'Connor Whelan

What we do

Providing an expertise in the increasingly complex planning, environmental and sustainable development arena, O’Connor Whelan is a strategic planning consultancy whose service is based on applying a thorough understanding of clients’ requirements and the planning system to problem solving and project realisation.

Established by Deirdre O’Connor and Alan Whelan – with almost 40 years’ planning experience between them – the consultancy has an acute understanding of the planning process and has earned a reputation for successfully guiding projects through the detailed consideration of interrelated and often complex planning, environmental, architectural and engineering issues.Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 and Visual Control Tower, RTE’s proposed new broadcasting facility and the DART Underground are among the key infrastructural projects in which Deirdre O’Connor and Alan Whelan have been involved. In addition, they have worked on numerous large-scale residential and retail developments countrywide and have assisted Local Authorities in preparing Local Area Plans and Integrated Framework Plans.Experience in navigating a range of projects through the planning system means O’Connor Whelan has an expert knowledge and skill-set that ensures accurate, bespoke, reliable and cost-effective advice that adds value to property assets.

Alan Whelan

A town planner with some 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sectors, Alan provides advice in a range of areas from policy formulation and development appraisal to Strategic Infrastructure Developments, presenting expert evidence in court and co-ordinating multi-disciplinary project teams. His experience in large-scale infrastructural projects includes acting as lead planning consultant for Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2, the proposed Visual Control Tower for the Irish Aviation Authority and DART Underground. In addition, his expertise in forward planning has assisted in the completion of land use and transportation plans, development plans and local area plans for a variety of Local Authorities.

Deirdre O'Connor

With over 17 years’ experience in planning consultancy, Deirdre is involved in a broad range of planning and development functions. These include advocacy, negotiation and advice in relation to planning applications for large-scale commercial, retail and residential developments. She also specialises in environmental impact statements, retail impact statements, master plan preparation, arbitration submissions and feasibility studies. She manages and co-ordinates projects for corporate clients, including assisting in site acquisition, scheme design and resolution of critical planning issues. With a particular expertise in retail planning, she has provided support to key retailers such as Aldi, John Lewis and Dunnes Stores, and has advised on a number of high-profile shopping centre developments.