Sir, – In an article by Joe Brennan, "Bank of Ireland to quit second HQ in 11 years" (Business, March 25th), it is stated that the Bank of Ireland is to reduce its central Dublin office footprint to save costs and to prepare for a proportion of its staff to continue to work remotely.
The bank will quit its leased headquarters on Mespil Road in Dublin 4 later this year and another of its offices, on Baggot Plaza, could be in line to become the new HQ, although there is speculation that the bank’s landmark premises on College Green in central Dublin could again become its central address.
The decision affecting the future of the bank on College Green should not be regarded as a toss-up between equally suitable premises and should not be left to the out-workings of the property market.
Firstly, the building on College Green is of national historic and cultural importance, constructed for the 18th-century Irish parliament, the first purpose-built bicameral assembly in Europe.
It is an architectural masterpiece; in the words of architectural historian Dr Christine Casey, “the collonaded piazza of the Dublin Parliament House is the most powerful and original classical design ever realised in Ireland”.
There is clearly an opportunity and an obligation to recover the building for the State and to open it for public uses.
Secondly, the bank’s plaza forms one side of the proposed College Green public space. The opportunity to incorporate the Bank of Ireland plaza into the public realm offers increased pedestrian space for events, outdoor activities, markets and recreation which would greatly enhance the viability of the plan and complement a new public use for the buildings.
Consultation has recently closed on amended proposals for the public space at College Green, which take account of the final version of the NTA Bus Connects Network redesign. It is timely that before these projects are finalised the future of the bank building can be determined. I would urge the Government to ensure that the Parliament Building at College Green is secured for the people of Ireland. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET COYLE, FRIAI
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.