GPO plans for 1916 Rising exhibition centre approved

Plans for a 1916 Rising exhibition and visitor centre for the GPO have been approved by Dublin City Council.

The facility, expected to cost about €5 million, will include a cafe and "sculpture court" as well as a two-storey exhibition centre. An Post intends to build the centre in a courtyard, currently not accessible to the public, behind the main hall of the O'Connell Street building.

The development will involve the construction of a raised "courtyard deck" with an exhibition area and gallery space below, a new single-storey building and more display space in an existing part of the post office, and an outdoor landscaped area.

Landscaping
However, the council has refused permission for a "pergola" in the new raised courtyard and has ordered An Post to submit a revised landscaping plan.

The proposed works are not within the historic portion of the GPO and would be “entirely confined to the 20th-century complex”. However, Independent city councillor Nial Ring had objected to the development over concerns about a reference to a new glazed entrance on Prince’s Street.

Councillors had been given assurances by An Post that the entrance to the exhibition area would be through the main hall, he said.