Ireland
Project history
In February 1998, Dublin Corporation, concerned
that O’Connell Street had been in decline since
the 1960s, launched a new action plan that recog-
nised its potential as the finest street in the city.
O’Connell Street is the major and historic route in
the northern area of the city. It links major transport
routes from the north, including the airport, into
the heart of Dublin and therefore it is important for
commerce and tourism, but recently the prosperity
of the city has centred upon the retail area to the
south of the River Liffey, while O’Connell Street’s
decline has been marked by cheap shops, fast food
outlets and a seedy reputation. The works in the
vicinity of the GPO are part of a larger project to
reverse this perception.
The O’Connell Street Integrated Area Plan covers
an area that extends from Parnell Square in the
north to Trinity College in the south, with Moore
Street and Marlborough Street forming the east
and west boundaries. The Phase 1 works described
here are to be found in the central section of this
larger improvement area. The adjacent redevelop-
ment sites within this project (phases to the north
and south) are being developed in-house by Dublin
City Council.
This site is extremely important in the history of
the Republic of Ireland. It was a very significant
location in the Easter Uprising of 1916 during which
the British Army crushed an Irish rebellion with
huge loss of life. The General Post Office, which
is still pock-marked by bullet holes, is the building
most associated with the rebels. They did not have
general public backing, but when some of their
number were captured and secretly executed by
the British, support grew and led to a revolt. After
further hostilities between 1919 and 1921 treaty
negotiations led to the formation of the Irish Free
State, though dissatisfaction with the terms of this
settlement led a further period of civil war in which
several prominent republicans, including Michael
Collins, lost their lives. The war ended in mid-1923
with defeat for the forces opposed to the treaty. The
GPO and its setting are thus of particular historical
and symbolic significance for the city and the nation
and this has a particular bearing upon the contem-
porary redevelopment.
Under Dublin City Council’s Action Area Plan for
O’Connell Street, the landscape architects were
employed as consultants for Phase 1 of the project.
The specification details and implementation
remained under the control of Dublin City Council.
A budget was also allocated for physical shop front-
age improvements to encourage the retail function,
but this has met with a limited response from the
owners of these properties.
