`The beauty of the world hath made me sad," wrote the poet Padraig Pearse. But it's the ugly things that really make me angry. So when developers moved into my area and proposed to build a six-storey office block slap-bang opposite some of the State's most historic buildings, what else could I do but protest? For years, I've sighed wearily as the latest blot on the landscape took its place on Dublin's streets, without ever doing much about it. Now I've said enough is enough.
Richard Barrett and Johnny Ronan, the duo behind Treasury Holdings, are planning to build "an office and technology park" across the road from Kilmainham Gaol and the back of the Royal Hospital. Having failed to give Dublin its first Hilton Hotel, having failed with Spencer Dock and having failed so far to take over London's Dome, Treasury has set its sights on stuffing as many offices as it can onto the site of the former Rowntree-Mackintosh factory on Inchicore Road.
This article does not claim to be objective. It's written from the point of view of a resident, not a journalist. And it's not about the issues faced by one particular suburb of Dublin. This could be your village or town that has to fight its corner against wealthy, secretive and inscrutable interests .
On our journey of protest - the story is far from finished - we've learned a lot about the way information is managed in our society, how democracy functions and how the State acts (or doesn't act) in defence of its citizens' rights. Most of all, what comes through is the sense of powerlessness among ordinary people in the face of development.
Even this layman can see that the office-block planned by Charmside Ltd, the vehicle used by Treasury for this application (Charmside's three directors are all directors of Treasury), breaks the most elementary architectural rules. It is grossly out of proportion and out of character with the surrounding buildings - someone has described it well as "an ocean liner forever docked in Kilmainham". It disregards the line of the street defined by a beautiful row of Victorian houses further down the road. And with 600 car-parking spaces for 2,000 expected users, it promises a traffic nightmare.
The gaol is a remarkable historical monument. Generations of political leaders - Pearse included - were involuntary guests. The museum within is a huge success, attracting over 100,000 visitors a year. Now this imposing edifice is to be dwarfed by a thoroughly mundane office-block across the road.
Few of us paid much attention when the planning notice went up on the site last summer. Some said it would never happen. Others said there was no point in arguing with money. As usual, the burden of campaigning fell on a few individuals. Stalwarts such as John Callery of the Friends of Kilmainham have tirelessly badgered politicians and officials on the issue.
When Dublin councillors criticised the plan last year and requested more information, the signs seemed positive. However, Charmside came back with plans for more, not less, office space. Then one day in February, Dublin Corporation granted planning permission. The development is good news for the authorities - aside from the rates payable on the new offices, the corporation gains through a £500,000 levy from the developer for "urban space improvements".
If a six-storey office-block was planned for your street, you'd most likely have something to say about it. But the gaol and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in the Royal Hospital are both State-run institutions. Privately, gaol staff told me they were worried the development would interfere with the sombre atmosphere they seek to create during tours. However, for the official line, I was referred to Duchas, the Heritage Service, which passed me on to the Department of Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands. Ironically, the Minister, Sile de Valera, is a granddaughter of Eamon de Valera, the last prisoner to be incarcerated in the gaol.
A Department of Arts spokesman said that if planning permission were granted, specific conditions regarding the prior excavation of the site should be attached.
I pointed out that Dublin Corporation had already granted planning permission. The spokesman came back a few days later to say that the required conditions had been attached and the department had no reason to object.
It was a similar story in the case of IMMA. The director expressed a view privately, but said I would have to talk to the Office of Public Works. The OPW said it had no objection, but explained this was a matter for the department. Finally, the department spokesman said it was for IMMA to decide. Returning to the museum, the director said it was a board matter, and promised to bring the issue to the attention of a future meeting.
The Freedom of Information Act elicited a bit more information. The gaol and the department weren't interested in matters of design, noise, disturbance or size; no, what really worried them was that the cafe in the new development might take business away from the gaol. And in a meeting with the developers last September, the officials asked for allocated parking spaces for buses and cars bringing visitors to the gaol. Charmside has shrugged off this request, suggesting that the gaol sort out its parking problems with Dublin Corporation.
TRYING to pin down the politicians is almost as difficult. The first problem is that the site is due to switch constituencies at the next election. Thus, one set of politicians who represent the area are no longer interested, as there is no prospect of electoral gain, while another set is interested but has no current base in the area.
Of course, opposition TDs and councillors are opposed to the development, and some Fianna Fail politicians are too. But the fact is that when the rezoning of the site for conservation purposes was mooted at a corporation meeting in February, insufficient councillors were present or willing to force a vote. And, as Samuel Goldwyn said: "A verbal promise isn't worth the paper it's written on."
It was only after planning permission was granted that the campaign of opposition took off. Locals were particularly galled when the developers claimed on RTE radio that only a few residents were in opposition. Within a fortnight, 300 people attended a protest meeting in a local hall.
Older residents recalled buying chocolate in a sweetshop that once stood on the site. A historian reminded us that this was the location of St John's Well, where a raucous fair was held annually in the 19th century. It was also rumoured to be Brian Boru's last campsite before the Battle of Clontarf, and to have links with Silken Thomas. Someone suggested we feng shui the site. No one was against development per se, provided that what was built was in keeping with the area and contributed to it.
Channelling all this creative energy and idealism is the hard part of a campaign. Pub quizzes, ballad sessions and the like are planned to pay for an appeal to An Bord Pleanala. The real challenge is to keep the protest in the public eye, and to win over those who make the decisions that shape our lives. That task is only beginning.
John Callery of the Friends of Kilmainham can be contacted at 0876820278. Website: www.kilmainham-gaol.com