Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 February 2023
203. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he is aware of the Custom House History Museum and its exhibition, which fails to mention An Gorta Mór and the role of the administration in the Custom House at the time played; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9374/23]
View answerThe OPW, in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, undertook a comprehensive restoration of the Custom House Visitor Centre in 2021. This venture was one of the key ‘Decade of Centenaries’ legacy projects and was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the burning of the Custom House in May 2021. The total budget cost for these works was €1.8 million.
Award-winning designers Bright, whose previous work includes exhibitions at Killarney House and Dublin Castle, worked with leading Irish historians and academics to reimagine the exhibition to include a narrative journey revealing a story with many layers of people, heritage and history, spanning over 200 years.
The exhibition flows and develops chronologically using each space to tell a chapter in the story, taking visitors from Dublin in the late 1700s through to the 21st century and giving them the unique and authentic experience of being inside the walls of one of the city’s most iconic buildings.
A memorial plaque for the Great Irish Famine (An Gorta Mór) is being designed at present by the Office of Public Works and, once completed, will form part of the overall visitor experience.
