The National Thoroughfare - Village Magazine

5 6 March 2016

he O’ Connell Street area is of

major architectural, historical,

cultural,artisticandsocialimpor-

tance,nationally.Itconstitutesa

distinctquarter of thecity that

wasformallyplanned,laidoutanddevel-

oped between the 1740s and the early

1800s.Thisarchitecturallydistinguished

areahasasimplebutelegantplan-ter-

racedbuildingsliningthestreets,usually

four-to-vestoreysinheight,withthelines

andrhythmofthefacadeslendinganover-

allcoherence.Occasionally,theseterraces

areinterruptedbyalandmarkbuildingthat

confersaspecialqualityorimageontoindi-

vidualstreets.Inspiteofthepressuresof

time,thisareastillremainsrelativelyintact

overtwohundredyearslater,atestimony

totheimportanceofthearea.

Thericharchitecturalcharacterandher-

itage of the O’Connell Street area is

generatednotonlybythelandmarkbuild-

ings or the more signicant protected

structuressuchastheGPO,thePro-Cathe-

dral,TyroneHouseor the Rotunda. The

specialcharacterisbuiltupbytheinterac-

tionbetween theseimportantbuildings

andtheordinarybuildingstock,aswellas

thestockofhistoricalandculturalmemo-

ries and associations attachedtothese

buildingsandpublicspaces.

InrecenttimesDublinCityCouncilhas

producedvolumesofplans,withlimited

teethandcharacteristicallyprospective-

only application (ie they only apply to

future planning applications).The most

notableisthearchitecturalconservation

area.TheCityCouncilstated:

"Inordertoproperlyprotectandmanage

thisrichlegacy,itisessentialnottocon-

centratesolely onthe preservation and

restorationofthelandmarkbuildings,but

alsoontheconservationandtheregenera-

tionofthewiderhistoricurbanarea.The

ArchitecturalConservationAreaprovidesa

mechanismtoprotect and enhancethis

widerarea.Itwillseektoprotecttheexist-

ing strong local sense of place, while

accommodatingthechangingneedsand

imageofthearea.Itmustbestressedthat

isnotintendedtopreventdevelopment.

Instead,itisintendedtoensurethatdevel-

opment, when it takes place combines

positivelywiththehistoricfabricandisto

ahighdesignstandard".

AnewplanforDublin’sO’ConnellStreet,

whichwillgovernthefutureuseandarchi-

tectural treatment of its buildings was

publishedbyDublinCityCouncilin2015.

The draft scheme of special planning

controlforO’ConnellStreetandsurround-

ingareas,includingHenryStreet,North

EarlStreetandMiddleAbbeyStreet,as

wellasWestmorelandStreetandD’Olier

Street,isdesignedtoencourageappropri-

atecommercialactivity,whileprotecting

thearea’sarchitectural,cultural,civicand

historiccharacter.

Theschemegivesextraplanningpowers

toprotectexistingshopsof“specialsigni-

cance”anddiscourages“lessappropriate

uses”ofpremises.

Permissionwillnotbegrantedunderthe

schemeforcertaintypesofshops,includ-

ing amusement arcades, bookmakers,

fast-foodoutlets,mobile-phoneshopsor

“adultentertainment”shops.

Inevitably,in Irelandoftheoverriding

fearoflawyersundertheConstitution,the

measureswillhaveprospectiveforceonly.

MorepreciselyadesignationofwhatIS

appropriate should be formulated for

O'ConnellSt-somethingalongthelinesof

"reinforcing the character of the street as

the country's most important civic and his-

torically important boulevard".  Ideally

activityonthestreetshouldbewholesome

andfamily-friendly.Andimaginative.

The National

Thoroughfare

O'Connell Street is the epicentre of Irish

Constitutional Nationalism and its GPO the principal

locus for the Easter Rising and the Proclamation of

the Republic. So how's it doing?

by Kevin Duff

O'Connell St 1916 as Metaphor for the Republic.

Is it any better now?

ENVIRONMENT