I am happy that the Minister has agreed to take this matter. He will be aware of some of the material contained in my brief because the Irish Georgian Society has been in touch with him. I hope he will show his usual forbearance if I repeat some of this material, but I will provide him with an opportunity to reply in public.
I speak with particular passion about Carton House. It is appropriate that we should be especially sensitive to it as we approach the bicentenary of 1798 because it was the home of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and the State has made no real provision for marking the 200th anniversary of the death of that great patriot. It would be appropriate that the State should take a particularly sensitive view of this matter in the light of that particular piece of political and historical, as well as architectural, heritage.
It is important that Carton House be seen in its context. Architecturally, it is the most significant house in this country. There is no question or doubt about that. It survives uniquely with its demesne intact. There is an 18th century parkland deliberately landscaped with water courses and diverted rivers, all part of the coherent, artistic and ascetic composition. The State should be extremely reluctant to upset this particular form of ascetic balance which exists uniquely in Carton House.
One should bear in mind what has happened at Marino with the casino, which is another of Europe's great architectural gems. It is an almost perfect architectural jewel, but a jewel shines best in its correct setting and at Marino we have the unpleasant intrusion of irrelevant housing which need not have been put there.
Kenure Park, Rush, County Dublin, the home of the late Colonel Frederick Palmer, one of the most stunning houses in Ireland, has been completely demolished. All that is left is the portico facade, which is dangerous and may be demolished.
Carton House is unique. It should not be just left to commercial exploitation by any international group in the interests of attracting niche market tourism. I know the Minister's brief is tourism and of course this is what he must concentrate on. He is a man of talent and energy. I know of the wonderful work that people in Bord Fáilte, such as Mr. Matt McNulty, have done in rescuing the Dublin Writers' Museum, Parnell Square, Dublin, and Newbridge House, Donabate, County Dublin. That is the kind of thing we must envisage for Carton House because it extends beyond tourism — I should not be dismissive of tourism — into the area of architectural and cultural heritage. If we spoil Carton House, we are less likely to attract tourists. We must think in terms of a long-term product, not just a short term gain to the Sheraton Hotel Group, which I understand is subject to a takeover bid in the US — the future plans may, in fact, be all up in the air.
It would be regrettable if we were to collaborate in the acquiring of £6 million of EU funding which would be used by a commercial operation to significantly damage the environment. I am afraid that this is what might happen because the plans for Carton House are unpleasantly familiar. It is a little like what happened in Castletown House, that other great house which was rescued by the Honourable Desmond Guinness and his wife, Riga, 30 or 35 years ago. Before they were able to save the whole place, parcels of land had been sold off and there is now this quite anomalous housing development all the way up the avenue. The permission was granted in 1992 by Kildare County Council after some degree of wrangling. We have moved on since then. Governments have moved on. They are much more sensitive now. I do not believe planning would have been granted now, but the permission which exists is for nine new crossings over the Rye Water and the serpentine sheet of water interrupting this carefully constructed landscape, 29 conference units which could be converted into houses, 119 golf villas — I ask the House to imagine how they would fit in to the composition of an 18th century great house and demesne — 40 demesne residences, 48 staff accommodation units, three golf courses and a 201 bedroom hotel stuck onto the main house — what is that going to do for the compositional balance of that house? This is all in the light of a report which was undertaken on the royal golf club at St. Andrew's in Britain which is for rich people, but the market has changed since then, particularly in Ireland which is a more democratic country. What the public seem to want is pay-as-you-play golf and we should not spoil our heritage just for the rich niche market. There are to be maintenance buildings, an indoor riding school, equestrian centre and car park, conference and executive facilities and a country club. The permission was given on the old grounds that jobs would be created and secured in the tourism industry but what is the point in destroying one amenity in order to create another?
The strongly held view of the Irish Georgian Society and the Honourable Desmond Guinness, who advised me, is that this money should be secured and used by the State to acquire Carton House as a heritage item for the State rather than for this commercial exploitation which will destroy it.
I remember visiting the city of Jerash, Jordan, which does not have all these facilities. They have carefully controlled, maintained and preserved the great Roman city of Jerash, not because they like it or have any feeling of sympathy for this particular form of architecture or culture but because they know that, preserved in its purity, it will bring tourists to that country. If Carton House is left more or less as it is and develops sensitively, it is capable of bringing tourists to this country.
Carton Demesne has been recognised by the International Council of Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS. The current development will essentially alter the demesne landscape and irreversibly change the house and its heritage value. Since the original permission was granted by An Bord Pleanála the appreciation of the value of our built heritage has greatly changed. Previous Governments have proposed and participated in numerous activities relating to the protection and preservation of our built heritage, ranging from participation in conferences like "The Future of the Country House" to the production of important documents like the series of conservation guidelines produced by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, and two recent reports on "Developing a Government Policy on Architecture" and "Strengthening the Protection of the Architectural Heritage".
The greatest fear of those concerned with this area is the possible inability of the local authority adequately to monitor and police those requirements sewn into the planning permission and to secure compliance with the conditions attached to the granting of permission by An Bord Pleanála. One only has to look at similar developments such as Powerscourt, County Wicklow, where compliance with the original permission was not adhered to. The Georgian Society has expressed its concern about a number of the conditions attached to An Bord Pleanála's decision. The validity of section 38 agreements, mentioned in the fourth condition, has not been adequately legally tried, therefore the validity of securing their stated objective is unsure.
The sixth condition relates to the phasing of the development but in other cases it is clear there have been breaches of phasing plans. Many local authorities are unwilling to enforce conditions attached to planning permission, either due to the lack of adequate staffing or finances within the authority to ensure proper policing of planning permissions or from the fear of possible legal action due to the lack of either legal precedent or clarity in the existing legislation. The 11th condition of An Bord Pleanála's decision requires the submission of a construction procedures plan.
The Georgian Society has communicated its concern that the local authority may not have sufficient suitably qualified personnel adequately to assess the important nature of the proposed conservation works due to the scale of the development, which would probably require a full-time effort to ensure that the works would be carried out correctly and in accordance with the permission. Would it not be better to recommend that this plan be submitted either to the conservation advisory panel of the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the Heritage Council, or the heritage service of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands? The society is aware that a cost benefit analysis for the proposed development has been requested but it is extremely sceptical about this.
The Minister has been to Carton House and I am sure he will agree it is remarkable. It is regarded as the most important of such houses on this island and this importance relies not just on its unique architectural beauty but on its setting. If a large modern Sheraton hotel is jammed onto one part of the house and several hundred golf chalets and nine bridges are built, the demesne will look like a Monopoly board. We will have destroyed the aesthetic integrity of the house and this cannot subsequently be recovered. What I am suggesting may be awkward for the Minister but we should be careful before doing irreparable damage. We should take the courageous step of bringing this wonderful house into public ownership on behalf of the people, making it available to them in consultation with the architectural archive, the Georgian Society and An Taisce, so that generations of Irish people may continue to enjoy its beauty. Bearing in mind that we are close to the bicentenary of the death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, does the Minister not agree that this would be a fitting memorial to that remarkable patriot?
