Heritage Sites
Dail Éireann — 2020-09-30
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Mark Ward (SF), Dublin Mid-West

I thank the Minister of State for what was a very complicated and convoluted response, although I am sure it is factually correct. However, I do not think the developer would have had a look at all that kind of stuff before he went in yesterday and bulldozed No. 40 Herbert Park. This was an act of sheer corporate greed, the like of which will destroy Irish history and heritage in this city if it is allowed to go on. The developer had blocked Dublin City Council from visiting the site despite two letters asking to visit it.
The O’Rahilly famously said, when he joined the fight for freedom from foreign occupiers in the GPO, "I have helped to wind up the clock. I might as well hear it strike." Yesterday, the developer wound up the clock of sheer wanton cultural vandalism of No. 40 Herbert Park. If the public condemnation is followed up with political will, then the developer will hear that clock strike. However, if this developer goes unpunished and is not punished in the strongest possible terms, then it will give the green light for more of our historical and cultural heritage to be destroyed. I ask the Minister of State this: for what died the sons of Róisín? Was it for greed?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-09-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:37+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-09-30