Una Mullally: Don’t laugh, but it’s obvious what should happen with Dublin’s O’Connell Street

In the never-ending conversation about how to “fix” Dublin’s O’Connell Street, a large opportunity is presenting itself. As An Post vacates the GPO, responsibility for one of the most important buildings in our country’s history will be transferred to the Office of Public Works at a time of great upheaval on the street. Big changes are afoot. There’s the Clery’s development – or if you’re the developer, “renaissance” – and the Moore Street redevelopment.

The question for the capital, the country, and specifically Dublin City Council, is what does the future of O’Connell Street look like? At a time of huge sites being redeveloped, and others having a potential for restoration and development, what should a cohesive plan for the city centre’s main street look like?

One of the things that plague Dublin city is ad hoc development. Chunks of streets are redeveloped in a vacuum. This creates uneven streetscapes and a lack of cohesion. But surely O’Connell Street is different. Can we come up with a big-picture plan that embeds character, a cultural theme, and a sense of connection so that people can comprehend the street in a new way? Or does a plan for the street actually exist?

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Last year, Dublin City Council published a scheme of special planning control for O’Connell Street and its environs. The purpose of this document was to “guide investment towards the creation of a busy thriving commercial area in O’Connell Street and environs, while protecting and enhancing architectural, historical, cultural and civic character of this nationally important civic thoroughfare.” O’Connell Street has been designated an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) since 2001.

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There’s loads of detail in the document, from awnings to advertising, windows to flagpoles. But in these snapshots, what’s missing is the panorama. The document also refers to “proposals to create a new cultural quarter at Parnell Square” – an old chestnut which includes relocating the City Library. Back in 2007, Dublin City Council was set to use the Ambassador [cinema] as a new city library. It never happened. Relocating the City Library is a bit like relocating the Abbey Theatre, in that it has been talked about for years. The sites are there, everyone knows what needs to be done, and nothing happens.

So what about this: what about creating a cohesive plan for O’Connell Street that makes it the city’s cultural thoroughfare? Before you scoff, the landmarks are all there. All we need is a bit of connected thinking and a big-picture view to understand the opportunities. Here are just some parts of the cultural and historical connective tissue of O’Connell Street: the Writer’s Centre and Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square lead down to the Gate Theatre and Poetry Ireland opposite, then the Ambassador, towards what will be the 1916 commemoration centre on Moore Street, then the GPO on one side and the Savoy cinema on the other, not forgetting the necessity for a memorial site at the old Sean McDermott Street Magdalene Laundry. There’s also the Tenement Museum a short hop to the west and the James Joyce Centre a skip to the east.

Right now, Dublin City Council’s Arts Office is busy contemplating the feasibility of a 500-seat arts venue in the city centre. Have they considered one that already exists? The Ambassador Theatre is just sitting there. The fastest, cheapest, and most sustainable way to create new cultural spaces is to use what already exists.

What could a reimagined GPO look like? Ask artists. Ask theatre companies. Ask gallerists. O’Connell Street has a remarkable history of photography studios. The stretch from Grafton Street to the Rotunda was once so abundant in them, it was known as Photographers Mile.

Imagine a pedestrianised O’Connell Street – with space maintained for the Luas and public bus transport – with an abundance of greenery, covered outdoor seating for dining and all these fabulous cultural amenities and landmarks connected. This stretch – from the Irish Writers’ Centre to O’Connell Bridge – is about 900m long. This should be the O’Connell Street Cultural Kilometre with museums, theatres, cinemas, galleries, memorials, contemporary art centres, music venues, restaurants, cafes, outdoor markets, playgrounds, and beautiful street furniture.

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The infrastructure for this already exists. We just need to zoom out. The greatest marketing win in Ireland in recent years was the Wild Atlantic Way. Nobody built anything, it was just about connecting the dots. Cynical? Not really, because what the Wild Atlantic Way also did was help people build a relationship with a coastline they may not have had if they didn’t live on it or near it.

Whoever can achieve this vision for O’Connell Street – and I assume it would be Dublin City Council in conjunction with the Department of Culture – needs to get on it before more chunks of the street and its surroundings end up as hotels, dead retail space, or unwanted offices. Piecemeal, inattentive, ad hoc, disjointed development needs to stop. Let’s work with what we have, create what we don’t, and enhance what exists. Cultural activity, embracing history, maintaining character, revitalising street life, embedding markets, art, and quality entertainment in a place that’s primed for it, is hardly a big leap. But it could be revolutionary.