Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In the greater scheme of things and in the middle of the Covid crisis, I am not sure that the issue I am raising is the most important one we could discuss. However, it struck me when I saw the story in question that it fitted well with the old adage that one should never waste a good crisis. Had we not been in the middle of a Covid lockdown and restrictions, the ESB might not have moved as quickly to do what it is doing.

The Georgian House Museum at No. 29 Fitzwilliam Street opened in 1991 to celebrate Dublin's status as European Capital of Culture. It was operated as a museum by the ESB and the National Museum of Ireland, offering an exhibition of Dublin Georgian home life from 1790 to 1820. The building was restored by the ESB as part of a deal with what was then Dublin Corporation. That deal was agreed more than a decade earlier to allow the company to exceed standard plot ratios in the expansion of its 1960s office complex. Some people will remember the destruction of Georgian Dublin in the 1960s, when eminent figures like the late Marian Finucane and the former President, Mary Robinson, fought hard, as students, to prevent it. When I was a young student, I had the privilege of being part of the campaign to stop the destruction of Wood Quay. That campaign was tragically lost to the vandalism of Dublin Corporation when it built its awful office buildings on top of what was the largest Viking site in Europe.

The part of Georgian Dublin in which the Georgian House Museum is located is the longest stretch of Georgian architecture anywhere in the world. The museum was offered as a sop to the people of Dublin by the ESB. It was to be allowed to carry out the development of its offices and, in return, it would provide the museum as some small form of compensation. Now the ESB is saying it does not want to reopen the museum after the building is refurbished. Given that it is the only publicly accessible Georgian period home in the city of Dublin and that we advertise Dublin as an architectural Georgian city for tourism purposes, this act of vandalism which is intended by the ESB should be reversed. I ask the Minister to lobby the ESB to stop it happening. I am not sure whether the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who is still in the Chamber, is the responsible Minister. It might be the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin. The redevelopment has already raised €180 million for the ESB through its selling off of half the site. In the middle of a pandemic, it is a deeply cynical move. Moreover, it would be highly ironic for a development of luxury apartments to replace a museum in this city at a time when we are facing a housing crisis and seeing various land deals happening.

I want to see Georgian Dublin preserved but I do not want to see the levels of inequality and poverty that defined Georgian Dublin preserved. It would be wrong for the museum to be converted into luxury apartments rather than being kept as a museum for the people. Many schoolchildren benefit from visiting it because it has an educational aspect. It also helps us to promote our city as somewhere interesting to visit. Enough vandalism has been done to Dublin. Its character has, in many ways, been destroyed by development over the years. Perhaps the ESB would use some of its newly found wealth to ensure the museum is preserved. There is a campaign by the Irish Georgian Society to save it. I hope the Minister will back us up in our call to put pressure on the ESB to keep the museum open, in conjunction with the National Museum of Ireland. It is an important educational and heritage facility. We must prevent further vandalism of this nature in our city.

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