Dublin City Council hopes to make €10 million by selling off business premises in Temple Bar.

The 25 buildings going under the hammer include 'The Queen of Tart's' café on Cow's Lane, 'The Gutter Bookshop' on Pudding Row, and the clothes shop 'Claire Garvey Designs'.

The Irish Times claims the current business operators will be offered first refusal to purchase the 25 properties at market prices.

However it is reported the properties could be sold in a single lot if there is no interest from the businesses. 

A spokesperson for the City Council says it does not want to continue acting as a landlord for commercial properties.

The money raised will be reinvested in the Temple Bar area.

All the properties for sale used to belong to the Temple Bar Cultural Trust which was taken over by the Council last year amid controversy over how it was being run.

The trust's last remaining board member, Independent TD Mannix Flynn, says he does not foresee rent increases for sitting tenants: