In 1924, the body currently known as the Office of Public Works commenced reconstruction of the General Post Office (GPO) on O’Connell Street, eight years after the Easter Rising. All that remained of the building, which had been entirely restored prior to being destroyed by artillery in 1916, were the outer walls and its renowned facade. Therefore, it had to essentially be recreated afresh.
Thirteen years post the Rising and five years after the rebuilding started, WT Cosgrave, president of the Irish Free State, inaugurated the reincarnated GPO. The renovated building adopted new additions; among them was a shopping arcade linking Henry Street to Prince’s Street. It also housed 2RN, the Free State’s inaugural radio station, and the precursor to current RTÉ.
However, the Carlton cinema, situated approximately 100m down O’Connell Street from the GPO, shut down in 1994. The structure, a cinema since prior to the Rising, has remained unoccupied for the past 30 years.
One might deduce from this and similar tales in north-central Dublin, for instance, the failure of the Parnell Square cultural-quarter project, the interminable issue of the Abbey Theatre building, and the appalling state of Aldbrugh House, that modern politicians, investors, and municipal officials have caused greater harm to Dublin’s structure than a decade of revolutionary violence and British bombardments ever did. Willful neglect and decay are not the only factors causing the social dislocation reflected in the recent riot, but they undeniably play a part.
RTÉ seems content with the decomposition of Montrose. They must grasp the opportunity to return to the GPO.
When personalities like Delia Smith and Hugh Grant join forces in protest, it garners attention. It begs the question – why the defence of a Sunday paper?
The controversy surrounding The Apprentice: Donald Trump and the ‘most ruthless, faithful, malicious’ attorney in America.
The feud in the music industry between Phil Coulter and John Sheahan against Lankum and The Mary Wallopers: Sit back and enjoy the melodrama.
Coincidentally, this week the GPO makes headlines; it has been proposed as one of the solutions to improve the conditions of north inner-city Dublin, following recent riots.
Reports suggest that there is a proposal to transform the GPO, which is no longer the central hub for An Post, into a public facility. There’s been talks that Irish broadcaster, RTÉ, currently housed in Donnybrook, might transfer its headquarters there. Despite the considerable size of its location, RTÉ has been reducing its footprint over the years, and the shift proposed by its director-general, Kevin Bakhurst, indicates more externalization of large-scale entertainment program production. The Fair City studio is even scheduled for moving.
As regards to the physical space, the station’s requirement for it is anticipated to decrease drastically, as some of its major buildings, such as the 1970s radio station, appear to be gradually deteriorating. Considering that audio production, as demonstrated by Bauer Media’s operation of four radio stations including Newstalk and Today FM across the river at Marconi house, requires significantly lesser space, RTÉ Radio’s return to the GPO, from where it moved out in 1974, seems plausible.
The uniqueness of the idea is amplified by chair of the taskforce being An Post’s CEO, David McRedmond, who narrowly missed becoming the director-general of RTÉ two years prior. His alternative and more radical approach to running RTÉ can be glimpsed in his support of the GPO idea.
McRedmond’s experience gives him the know-how to understand the feasibility of such a move. Taking current trends in city planning into consideration, where office buildings from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s are being demolished due to their inability to support the infrastructure required by modern businesses, especially in media, the successful future-proofing by the Board of Works in the 1920s would be commendable, if it prevails.
This week, in a column published in this news outlet, renowned media commentator Mark Shiel voiced serious concerns about RTÉ’s potential move back to the GPO. Instead, Shiel advocated for a rejuvenation and reconstruction of Montrose. In Shiel’s view, the plans to downscale are ill-judged. He suggests RTÉ could serve as the cornerstone of a “multifaceted Donnybrook Media District”, similar to the model of CBS Television City in Los Angeles, offering studio and post-production services for both in-house and external productions. According to him, this could be financed by a €1 billion capital investment from the Apple tax surplus.
Although intriguing, Shiel’s grand-scale idea may not align with the objectives of our current administration or any future ones. In reality, the major task for RTÉ is pinning down its public-service-media role in more unassuming means. Including a partial move back to the GPO could aid this process and provide a small but crucial boost to the north city centre’s resurrection.