It is a pleasure to welcome my old colleague from this House, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Cullen. This matter is concerned with the restoration of an 18th century building, something with which the Government, since the publication of its very important document on our Georgian heritage last summer, has shown itself to be in tune. It is also a subject in which I have taken a specific interest.
I have been expertly briefed by the Droichead Arts Centre. The director is Paul O'Hanrahan, co-ordinator Nick Reilly and the chairman is Michael Holohan. It is a professional group of people. The group's board of directors is advertised on its notepaper. It comprises a distinguished group of people, including Michael Holohan, Senator O'Dowd and a former Member, Alderman Jimmy Mulroy. There is, therefore, cross-party and consistent political support at a high level locally for this kind of project.
I am concerned about Barlow House, which I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with. Urgent action is required to save this very important house, probably the single most important remaining early Georgian building in Drogheda. It dates from 1734.
I am sure the Minister of State will recall, as I do only too well, the scandal surrounding the destruction of Drogheda Grammar School, which is a similarly fine building. It would be a tragedy if this fine building is allowed to decay or put to inappropriate use by virtue of the fact that it appears to be falling between at least two, if not three or four stools. I note that today and Monday are important dates in terms of decisions. I hope something positive can emerge from this afternoon's meeting.
Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, has been asking the Government to grant the use of the old Garda station in Drogheda for an arts space, which would comprise studios, rehearsal rooms, a café, craft studios and an outdoor performance space, for the past two and a half years. I have been involved in similar projects, for example, with the old fire station in Buckingham Street which has been extraordinarily successful in regenerating life in that area of Dublin's north inner city. Such projects have in the past been spectacularly successful in terms of both the local community and tourism.
During this two and a half year period in which this very active board has been pursuing the matter the centre applied to a variety of funding agencies to cover the cost of the conservation and restoration of the building, as well as the creation of a new set of buildings in the backyard area. Its efforts have met with a certain degree of success. A recommendation has been made that the project receive substantial funding from the INTERREG programme, estimated at £250,000. In addition, it has the possibility of generating a further £150,000 through fund raising. However, this funding will be lost within the next couple of days if the Office of Public Works does not make a decision on the future of Barlow House.
The recommendation for INTERREG funding was made on the basis that the Government leases or donates Barlow House to the Droichead Arts Centre. However, reaching such agreement has not proved to be an easy task, so much so that the centre has just been informed by its major funder that if it cannot secure a signal of intention from the Office of Public Works by the end of March the funding will be lost. The Minister knows my track record in this respect. I am involved in the James Joyce centre in North Great Georges Street and I remember being derided and denounced and told we would never get the money for it. I invite anyone who still has doubts to see how successful 33 North Great Georges Street has been.
The difficulty has been that since the Garda vacated the building in April 1997 the Office of Public Works has been trying to establish whether another Department requires the building for office accommodation. That is perfectly reasonable, but surely a year is enough time in which to make that ascertainment. In the 12 months which have elapsed, it appears all potential Government tenants have rejected the building on the grounds that it is generally unsuitable or would be too costly to convert. The delays in this cumbersome process is likely to cost the town of Drogheda a rare opportunity to do something positive with a splendid old building.
It is highly probable that by the time the Office of Public Works comes around to declaring the building surplus to State requirements the grant to restore and conserve it will have gone, which would be a real tragedy. This trend must be stopped. The only people who can prevent more losses are Drogheda people themselves by acting in a unified and purposeful way. They have clearly demonstrated their energy, dynamism and capacity to plan in the intelligence of the programme they intend to implement if they are given proper support from central Government.
Barlow House was built in 1734, which makes it a very early and significant building as Georges Street was built between 1760 and 1800 and Henrietta Street was built in the 1740s. It was designed by the architect Richard Cassels, who was also responsible for Leinster House and Iveagh House, which is now the Department of Foreign Affairs. The building is in a good state of preservation, generally speaking, and contains many original features. An Foras Forbatha listed the building as being of national importance in 1986 and it is one of the last great Georgian buildings in Drogheda.
Drogheda has seen its fair share of destruction, both legal and illegal. The entire southern section of the medieval town was demolished in the 1980s, while the famous grammar school was illegally destroyed in 1989. The restoration of the building would ensure that one major public building from the Georgian period would be saved and open to the public. In other words, it would be part of our general possession as a people.
The proposal for the restoration of the house is a significant and worthy one. The Droichead Arts Centre has requested one of the country's foremost experts on Georgian architecture, John Redmill, who is personally known to me and is a man of considerable international reputation, to supervise the restoration programme. In addition, a set of innovative modern buildings in the rear yard will be created as a performance space and crafts colony. The development would provide the opportunity to create a new public space, known as West Gate Square, which would create a new and vibrant public space at the ancient north-western entrance to Drogheda. In addition, artists and crafts people will be able to engage in economically worthwhile activities in the new crafts colony.
Ironically, the memorandum recommending that funding should be given to restore Barlow House states ". the approach to the conservation of the building is a good one and to be commended as Drogheda is in need of some conserved buildings". A further irony is the fact that the Department of Finance is co-ordinating the funding and the Minister for Finance has political responsibility for the Office of Public Works.
All that is required is the making of two simple administrative decisions — first, a declaration that Barlow House is surplus to the requirements of the State, which it clearly is, and, second, a decision by the Minister for Finance that Barlow House will be provided for the common good and not put on the open market. It is hard to think of a good reason for not handing over a building, unlikely to ever see service again as a Government office, to the community as a heritage and cultural resource, particularly in a town such as Drogheda which has had such a spectacularly bad history in the conservation of historic properties. The Droichead Arts Centre has been informed that if the Office of Public Works does not decide in the next couple of weeks on its future intentions the centre will lose the funding to restore the building.
I will reiterate the two necessary decisions on which I hope the Minister will indicate this evening there has been some activity. The first is that the Office of Public Works expedite its review of Civil Service accommodation needs in Drogheda. This assessment should be realistic and indicate whether Barlow House can be feasibly refurbished. I gather from my information that it has already been touted around various Departments and no one really wants it. The second necessary decision is that the building be declared surplus to the requirements of the State and for the Minister for Finance to exempt it from the normal tender process and grant it on a peppercorn rent to the Droichead Arts Centre.
I hope those two decisions are taken at least partially as a result of our intervention this evening. If that is the case, I look forward to a reception in Barlow House at which the Minister and I can jointly congratulate this very energetic and vital group. We will, of course, also invite the Cathaoirleach.
