64 — village July - August 2012
I
N JUST a few years time, the General Post
Office, the centre-piece of Dublin’s grand-
est street, will celebrate its bicentenary.
Designed by the renowned Francis Johnston,
its foundation stone was laid in August 1814. It
opened for business in January 1818. A few years
time will also see the centenary of its most turbu-
lent experience. The events of Easter Week 1916
brought the Proclamation of the Republic and
soon after the destruction of the building as British
forces re-asserted their disputed authority.
Throughout its existence, the GPO has had a
special place in Irish life, as the control centre of
postal communications across the country and
since 1916 for its central role in narratives of the
freedom struggle. Architecturally, historically and
also by location it has been central to Dublin and
Ireland.
There is little doubt that the significance of
the GPO is widely appreciated. Less clear is its
future role. An impressive post office was once
a central feature of every city. But such buildings
are no longer essential in an era of digital commu-
nications, and in many countries post offices have
downsized. Banks, hotels, travel agents and other
retail activities now occupy some of the great post
office buildings of the largest US and Australian
cities. Might Dublin’s GPO face some compara-
ble scenario?
Light years ago, in the developer-driven
days of 2007, a government think tank contem-
plated a new role for the GPO. The then Junior
Minister Noel Aherne told the Dáil consultants
had been engaged to visualise such initiatives as
the creation of some sort of shopping mall and a
commemoration of Easter 1916. In July 2007,
creative ideas were sought although no provision
was made for public consultation. Two years later,
then Arts Minister Martin Cullen suggested that
the building might be the new home of the Abbey
Theatre.
None of these suggestions appears to have
attracted much interest or to have generated
much popular enthusiasm. With austerity the
new reality, their practicality now seems espe-
cially questionable. At a time when proposals for
an Arnotts ‘northern quarter’ and for the Carlton
re-development in O’Connell Street were being
treated as serious runners, a retail role for the
GPO may have appeared attractive. Five years on,
it is highly debateable if a city centre which may
soon show signs of hollowing out in an American
style could support more shopping. As for the
1916 proposal, that arguably requires great sen-
sitivity. Anything that is exclusive, or that could
be a hostage to physical force nationalism, might
be out of place in 21st century Ireland. The Abbey
proposal is also difficult to see working, for it is
hard to match the current scale of the theatre to
the size of the GPO. Huge re-modelling might be
needed for any of these projects.
Yet the GPO is such a centrepiece to Dublin
that its future surely requires some sustained
review and public debate that reaches beyond
the vision of government ministers and senior
officials. Other options that retain or enhance its
civic role deserve consideration. For example, one
possibility might be to use the building as a major
city library. Given its size and capital city status,
Dublin is unusual in having no high capacity, open-
access central city library. The imaginative idea to
develop the Ambassador Cinema site for this pur-
pose was recently abandoned on cost grounds, so
the deficiency remains. An opportunity, at a loca-
tion where it might be politically more acceptable
to embrace the cost, exists at the GPO.
Another possibility is to use the building to
provide the National Archives with the premises
and centrality that recognises its significance in
this state. The National Archives contain a vast and
diverse accumulation of state and private records
that have accumulated since independence as well
as many earlier records. The impression exists
that so much was destroyed in 1922, and that
Äò®ÙÊÄÃÄã
ÙÄʽ«ÊÙÄÙ
The 90th anniversary of the blowing-up of the Public Records Office, 30th
June 1922, calls for the National Archives Public Office to be rehoused
New life for the GPO
New life for the GPO
65
little earlier survives. But in fact much remains,
for example the remarkable rebellion papers from
the 1790s and the unique household records of
the 1901 and 1911 censes that are now acces-
sible by internet.
At present the National Archives are mainly
located in Bishop Street in the south
inner city. With an architecturally-
dull façade, the building is redeemed
inside by an excellent reading room
and a usually cheerful and obliging
staff. Opened nearly 20 years ago, it
was then a vast improvement to pre-
vious facilities beside the Four Courts
and in Dublin Castle. But today the
building appears much less suit-
able. Some storage conditions are
less than ideal, and increasingly
records are being stored off the site.
Notwithstanding staff efforts, mate-
rials get lost, mislaid and damaged.
The Archives attract many types of
user. From within Ireland, many
come to flesh out details on their
family or, on their local area. From
outside Ireland come professional historians and
significant numbers with genealogical and other
enquiries. Those who have experience of archives
in other major cities may well be appreciative of
the staff, the records and the excellent web-site,
but surely also perplexed that Ireland appears to
give such little public recognition to its National
Archives. In Washington, for example, the National
Archives occupy a prominent site among govern-
ment buildings and – as the home of the ‘freedom
charters’ – are a major visitor attrac-
tion. In Britain, the National Archives
are located out of the centre but in a
superb, purpose-built facility at Kew
in west London. Like Washington, it
attracts and encourages large num-
bers of serious users as well as casual
visitors.
So, could the GPO ‘work’ as a
home for a greatly enhanced city
library or for our National Archives?
An immediate attraction is that the
building appears very spacious with
the capacity for extensive on-site
storage. But it is its ‘presence’ and
centrality that have particular appeal,
providing huge potential to engage
the imagination of the public. With
vision, a facility might be created that
could reach out and develop to be, not just a library
or record office, but an expression of the herit-
age of people in Ireland. That would be something
very different to the artefact-oriented National
Museum. It might be about the population, the
plain people of Dublin and Ireland, a broad project
that might include, but only as part of something
more inclusive, building-specific displays fea-
turing the postal heritage and the experience of
1916. The great attraction of these types of use
for the GPO is that it could be emotionally inclu-
sive. A library belongs to all the people of the
city, a National Archives belongs to all the peo-
ple of Ireland, and each helps unravel personal
stories. In either role, the building would have a
civic function that could grow in tandem with the
multicultural Ireland of the 21st century.
For nearly two hundred years the GPO has been
a source of pride for people in Ireland. Equipped to
attract, serve and excite like the great libraries of
cities like Boston or Brisbane, or like the National
Archives building in Washington, our GPO might
continue to have a worthy role, signifying that the
Irish state in its maturity reaches out to its docu-
mentary past, and recognises its significance, for
all its citizens. As 2016 approaches, the oppor-
tunity is out there for debating the future of the
GPO and for a major cultural initiative that would
ensure its continuing centrality in Irish life.
Dr Arnold Horner has lectured in Geography at
University College Dublin and is an occasional
recreational user of libraries and National Archives.
An opportunity,
at a location
where it might
be politically
acceptable to
embrace the
cost, exists at
the GPO
¨

Loading

© 2015 Village Magazine

Back to Top