Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Given that it is about Moore Street in Dublin, one might wonder why a Deputy from Galway would be concerned about it, but it signals what we need to do with many of our buildings around this country that have gone into dereliction because we do not have the means or the courage to maintain them and bring them back into use. It is important Moore Street is blended into a modern Ireland. We must ensure we bring life back into that part of the city, a life that complements the history of that particular site.

The recently published Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland report shows that more than 70% of the space over retail units in Dublin is vacant.

That space is there to be utilised and brought back to life in order that people can live there and have a living city. The reason it is not being used is that there are huge issues around trying to match up the heritage and archaeological aspects of the sites with the requirements of making them viable for people to live there. We have a challenge in this regard and it is one that arises throughout the country. In my own constituency, there are public buildings that are completely derelict because we do not have the appetite or the funding to bring them back into use. It is a shame that is not being done because it would unlock huge potential in terms of having places of interest in the places where people are living and working and ensuring we have vibrant societies in towns and cities throughout the country.

Moore Street is probably the best example of where we have, in effect, been paralysed in our thinking about how we can maintain our heritage and history and, at the same time, bring it back into use. We need to set a template by which local authorities, councillors and policymakers can provide the funding to ensure we get the full potential from all the sites throughout the country, rather than just tipping around the edges with them. This is a fine example of where we need to have new and fresh thinking. This Bill is a platform by which we can do that and I commend Sinn Féin on bringing it forward. It starts the debate that is needed to ensure local authorities know what they need to do to realise the full potential of these sites.

Every place in this country has history. It is in our fields, towns and villages, but it is locked up in dereliction and nobody goes near it. It is a shame. Abbeyknockmoy in Galway is the location of one of the best-kept abbeys in Europe. It is a beautiful place but nobody goes there. It should be a beacon of light for tourism in north Galway. There is also Tuam, which was the capital of Ireland at one stage and the place from which the O'Connors ruled the country. It is an archdiocese with huge historic buildings but they are not being used properly because there is a conflict between their preservation and their use. We cannot just put a lock around them and say that nobody can go into them. We need to embrace the potential of the assets we have and bring them back into use as quickly as possible while retaining their cultural and heritage value. We will all benefit from that into the future.

See this speech in context