AT AROUND 25,000 square metres, the GPO complex on O’Connell Street in Dublin is two-thirds bigger than the pitch in Croke Park.

For many of us who call Dublin home and for those who visit the capital, we think of the post office at the front of the building and the wonderful exterior facing onto O’Connell street. But physically, the GPO is so much more than that. With two internal courtyards, offices which go up five storeys high and a relative newly interpretative centre there is a whole world of possibility for a re-imagined GPO.

Sadly, from what we heard last week, the Government appears devoid of any imagination. With an office vacancy rate of 18.6% in Dublin’s city centre at the end of last year, according to Knight Frank, it’s clear Dublin does not need any more shiny new offices.

Indeed, one of the reasons An Post cited for relocating its 900 staff to the docklands was because the GPO office space had not been renovated since the 1980s, and there are significant mechanical and engineering challenges in modernising the offices. So if the bill is too high for An Post, then who else is going to put in the necessary multi-million euros? And for whom?

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Retail, a major historic project and a cultural hub were the other crumbs of detail that the public got from the Government in the past week. There........

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