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JUNIOR MINISTER FOR Heritage Christopher O’Sullivan has hit out at Sinn Féin for its “outrageous” opposition to the government’s plan to redevelop the General Post Office (GPO).
His comments come in response to a Dáil motion from Sinn Féin later today, which seeks to recognise the “consistent, widespread and negligent destruction of Ireland’s republican revolutionary history presided over by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments”.
The GPO was the headquarters of the Irish Volunteers during the Easter Rising of 1916.
The Cork South West TD, who is a junior minister in the Department of Housing, said the government will be putting down a counter motion to this “for obvious reasons”.
“Some of the points being suggested in Sinn Féin’s motion are absolutely outrageous, for want of a better word. Especially coming from a party that was only established in the ’70s,” he said.
Sinn Féin was founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905, the party later split in the early 1920s. The modern Sinn Féin became a political force in the 1970s.
O’Sullivan argued that his party and Fine Gael have invested in commemorating the early revolutionary period of the Irish State and noted that €10m has already been invested in the current GPO experience and exhibition.
“We absolutely hold this period of Ireland’s history dear to our hearts…Sinn Féin don’t own this. They don’t own the narrative. We all have a connection to that revolutionary period,” he said.
Last week, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described the government’s plans for the GPO as “another shameful betrayal of Ireland’s proud revolutionary history”.
Asked today by The Journal to elaborate on what shops are planned for the iconic building, and if, for example, it will include a Carroll’s gift shop, the junior minister said that it was “way, way too early for me speculating on what may or may not be there”.
He said the project will be led by the Office of Public Works and that there will be a public consultation ahead of the final design.
“Just to reiterate, the focus on what happens at the GPO will be on its importance in terms of the role that it played in 1916 and that historically cultural importance,” O’Sullican said.
He said the design of the GPO will be based on the recommendations of the Dublin City Taskforce.
“So what we do know is the three recommendations it did suggest were, first and foremost, that focus on the importance in terms of its cultural, historical importance.
“That will be the main focus, and everything that will be done will complement that. There will be a civic office aspect to it, and there will be a retail aspect to it as well,” the junior minister said.
He added that there is already a retail aspect to the GPO complex, with over 27 shops on the Henry Street side.
This was a reference to the GPO Arcade, which is one of the most distinctive shopping facilities in Dublin, and is located at the back of the GPO post office and museum, with a separate entrance.
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