Seanad debates

Tuesday, 1 December 2020

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Rebecca MoynihanRebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I echo the calls of other Members on the issue of the Pat Finucane inquiry. It is extraordinary that this issue managed to unite people across the House yet the United Kingdom Government did not hear the calls for a full public inquiry. It is extremely remiss of it and it was a disappointing statement yesterday.

In this House several months ago, we discussed the issue of our built heritage and the O'Rahilly house. This was a case where a developer had got permission to demolish a building, in the middle of the night, even after Dublin City Council had initiated the process of having it put on the record of protected structures.

I want to raise the issue of another building, which I raised at the time of the debate on the O'Rahilly house, the Player Wills building on South Circular Road, which architecturally, culturally and socially is a great example of our industrial heritage, of which we do not have much. It was recently bought by Hines which is planning to put in a planning application to develop it and the site surrounding it. Back in 2018, while I was a member of Dublin City Council, I got the local authority area committee to pass a motion asking that it be immediately put on the record of protected structures. This had also been recommended by the then Minister. Two years later there was no movement on this.

The person who succeeded me on Dublin City Council tabled a motion to the full council meeting asking all council members that it be added to the record of protected structures. He got word yesterday that the executive had taken the decision that, after engagement with the developer, the developer was committed to maintaining the building and the executive was not moving to include it in the record of protected structures. Two arms of a local authority asked for it to be put on the record of protected structures, as did the then Minister. We have a chance of keeping this building, yet we are taking the word of a developer and an executive decision has been made. Will the Leader invite the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to the House to discuss this? We do not want to be reliant on the goodwill of a developer to keep part of the industrial heritage of our city intact.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.