Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

The GPO is more than just a building. It is the beating heart of Dublin city and of our history. It is the centre of civic memory with a 200-year history and, crucially, it is a site with enormous potential. The GPO stood witness to the events of 1916 but the walls have seen far more than that. It bore witness to the 1913 Lock-out, which was a defining moment for workers' rights. It has stood through both world wars when thousands of Irish men were away at war and their families waited anxiously for letters from the front line. It was a telephone room that connected people to loved ones as they emigrated to England, Australia and America. In a very real way, the GPO has been the front room of the nation, a place where people gathered, where stories were shared and where history happened. It has been a focal point not just for rebellion, but also for protest, celebration and connection.

It is remarkable that the GPO has never stood still. It has always been reinventing itself. Now it is up to us to ensure that its next chapter serves people just as powerfully as it did in the past. The Labour Party hopes that the Government is not prepared to trade imagination for inertia, heritage for market value, or public good for private gain. We are standing at a crossroads and we must ask if the GPO will become just another office block or, worse, a home for retail chains. Worse again, is it at risk of being handed over to the highest bidder? Or will we have the courage to make it a living, breathing public institution, one that honours our revolutionary past while building for our cultural future?

The GPO must stay in the hands of the State and be developed for public use, the Minister of State has said. The alternative would be to allow market logic to dictate what happens on one of the most symbolically important pieces of land in the country. This would be a failure of political imagination and a huge missed opportunity. For years, Dublin has seen the relentless erosion of its artistic and cultural life, driven out by commercial rents, developer greed and political neglect. The GPO should be transformed into an artistic and cultural hub, complete with artists' studios, performance venues, education spaces and, critically, housing. Any hollowing out should stop and the GPO offers us a lifeline here. Its courtyards are flooded with natural light and its walls are steeped in history. This could house workshops, performance spaces and residences. With the right investment, former office units could be converted into affordable apartments for artists and cultural workers, something truly groundbreaking for a city desperate for both housing and creative spaces. If offices are truly necessary, why not offer space to local start-ups and grassroots enterprises?

When it comes to the GPO, we are facing deeply contentious issues and, frankly, I believe the current plans miss the mark to some degree. Time and again, we hear about "meanwhile use". If that is truly the intention why do we not actually test those uses before locking us into something permanent and potentially regrettable? Meanwhile use is one of the latest phrases from a Government seemingly allergic to long-term vision. If it truly believes the GPO can be used temporarily while long-term plans are figured out, well, let us prove it. Open the space, host exhibitions, support community theatre and open-air historical re-enactments, facilitate youth workshops, create performance venues, and make a commitment here and now that the GPO gets an event space and that it will be a public venue, accessible, affordable and alive with the cultural energy the city is crying out for.

This entire district of Moore Street to the GPO and to Parnell Square should be reimagined as a 1916 revolution quarter, a place of remembrance, regeneration and renewal. This site does not belong to any Government or Opposition party, or to any Minister or development firm. It belongs to the people.

It is deeply disappointing that successive Governments have ignored reports with plans for the area and instead facilitated a private profit-maximising vision that erodes rather than enhances the historic fabric. It is a dereliction of civic duty. A city without culture is a city without soul. A capital that forgets it revolutionaries is a capital that sidelines them. A State that abandons public assets to market logic is a State that has lost sight of the public good. This is not just about a building, but about our values. It is about whether we are shaping a city for profit or for people and whether we honour our history in building a living legacy or sell it off piece by piece to the highest bidder.

Let me be clear. The Labour Party is completely opposed to the idea of long-term office space or a parade of big retail brands setting up shop on this historically significant site. This is not just another building. It is a cornerstone of our national story. That does not mean it should become a static museum piece. Far from it, but surely there is a richer and more meaningful cultural and educational use that should take precedence within the building that uses and serves the public, not just the market. If the plan includes an event space, let us demand real commitment that it be truly a public venue, accessible, inclusive and alive for live events. In a city sorely lacking in performance spaces, this is a chance to address this need, not to ignore it. The future of the GPO must still be written but it is more than just property value. It is more than just square footage or euro signs. It should be about creativity, remembrance and public purpose.

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