A charity supporting Irish veterans has proposed transforming the GPO into a national centre dedicated to veterans, reports RTE.
Óglaigh Náisiúnta na hÉireann (ONE) said that the potential redevelopment of the iconic landmark presents a timely chance to support and pay tribute to the over 100,000 veterans living across Ireland.
A recent recommendation from a group working to enhance Dublin city centre suggested the GPO should be repurposed as a prominent public building with expanded civic use. This idea was included in the Dublin City Centre Taskforce’s report, which outlined ways to rejuvenate O’Connell Street, reports RTE.
Mary McAuliffe, a historian at UCD, explained that the GPO holds great significance in Ireland’s fight for independence. It served as the main base during the 1916 Easter Rising and was the site where the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was first publicly read.
“It was the Irish volunteers and Cumann na mBan who fought in here in 1916, who then become the Republicans who then fight during the war of independence – split in the Civil War – but a lot of them go into the national army which is the precursor of today’s Irish army,” she said, reports RTE.
ONE’s Chief Executive, Cormac Kirwan, said the GPO carries deep meaning for veterans. He believes creating a Veterans Centre in central Dublin would serve both functional and symbolic roles, while also shedding light on the challenges veterans face.
ONE is currently the only charity offering housing and mental health services to veterans of the Irish Defence Forces. It operates residential homes in Dublin, Athlone, Cobh, and Letterkenny, providing vital support as more veterans face homelessness.
“There is approximately 1% that are struggling due to a variety of different reasons. Reasons that would be associated with service at home and abroad but also reasons you’d have within a normal community. What we’re really advocating for is that a National Veterans Support Bureau would be the one stop shop – the central hub where the information would come down from the Office of Veterans Affairs and then be disseminated out. But it would also be an opportunity for veterans within the Dublin region or veterans that need to get advice in certain areas, that they could come in here and get appropriate advice on whatever area they need,” reports RTE.
As An Post relocates its headquarters, the GPO will soon fall under the responsibility of the Office of Public Works. Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran said he remains open to discussions with ONE, noting that no final decision has been made on the building’s future role.
Ms McAuliffe added that the GPO could function as a Veterans Centre while still maintaining its historical exhibition.
“I think we also need to keep the exhibition of 1916 because it is a destination site for so many people… celebrating our revolutionary history. This is a huge site,” she said, reports RTE.
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