Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The amendments relate to what the planning authority or commission, as the case may be, shall have regard to when performing its functions. The two amendments are very simple. Amendment No. 599 seeks to insert, after "protected structure", the words "or its integrity within the surrounding context". This is important when considering protected structures because they do not sit by themselves. We have all seen the photograph of skyscrapers with a tiny church at the bottom. It is very quirky. It is in either London or New York. The tiny church is totally dominated by two buildings, one on each side, so its context is totally lost, although it might be quaint in itself. It is still very valuable historically, obviously. The same can be said of structures here. Thankfully, not all of them have been destroyed.

I remember campaigning many moons ago to save Frescati House, Blackrock. Next to it was a supermarket or shopping mall that bore absolutely no relation to it. The house was retained in the end but, because nobody took any heed of it, it collapsed and is now gone. Frescati House was the holiday home of the FitzGeralds, including Lord Edward FitzGerald and maybe even the later Earl of Kildare. It was the summer home to which they moved from Leinster House. It does not exist anymore. There is a nice, big, enlarged shopping mall there. The context for what was there, which was a protected structure, was lost once the mall was built and once no one took heed of the structure. Nobody here would dare – or maybe someone would – to suggest that we should build a new town or village in the Boyne Valley, for example, because we respect the context of the surrounding area and its integrity.

There are proposals on protected structures that I have argued about with the Minister many times in the Dáil. I argued that Moore Street should be protected. It is not the only area where the context is lost once you start surrounding a building with new buildings. Unless the relevant building has something over and above the other architectural, archaeological or historical features, you have lost it. One of the things you do at any of the major sites in Ireland is step back and marvel, seeing it in context. I am not saying we should limit development but we have to allow the protected structures to be seen. Usually, the rule when contemplating building works is that you do not interfere with the protected building itself. Thus far, it has been a case of not letting the foundations undermine the foundations of the protected structure and ensuring no direct interference. The concept is to try to capture the context-----