Office of Public Works Priorities and Progress: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-19 ============================================================ Lorraine Clifford-Lee (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach The Minister of State is very welcome to the Seanad. I want to speak specifically about Lusk round tower and belfry. It is a topic we have discussed previously. I want to use this opportunity to talk about it. Lusk community council has been working with the OPW since October 2024. The first challenges it encountered were in getting this beautiful belfry and round tower open. I will touch on the history of the belfry and the round tower. St. Maccullin is connected with the area as one of the early Christians in Ireland. The Barnewall tomb is contained in the medieval part of it. The Barnewall family were a significant Norman family in the area. The first challenge that the OPW and Lusk community council encountered was to get the belfry and round tower open for the 2025 tourist season using the fabulous community cultural centre nearby as a base, and 12 openings occurred in 2025. They were very successful. Only the ground floor of the belfry is currently available for tours due to health and safety reasons. In 2026 the OPW and Lusk community council have agreed 14 days of tours of the round tower and belfry. These are right in the heart of medieval Lusk. They really form an iconic cultural point within the town. Those dates are from May to September. I recently did one of the first tours in May. I brought my daughter. It was a beautiful tour and I know the Minister of State will be very impressed when he comes to visit . OPW tour guides from Brú na Bóinne did the tours and they were fantastic. They are really excellent tour guides and are very knowledgeable of the area and the historical and cultural significance of the site. The building had a detailed survey completed in 2025. Lusk community council is now awaiting details of that survey and the timeline for improvements. They are very keen to get this fully open for next year. Members may know that next year we will be celebrating the year of the Normans. This is a significant site in the Norman history of Ireland. Lusk is keen to be part of that celebration next year and to be a focal point in Dublin of the Norman celebrations. These works are really necessary. We need the report published, the necessary works committed to and an undertaking given before this can progress. Lusk Community Council has worked very well with the OPW to develop this as a significant tourist offering both for visitors and Lusk residents. As the Minister of State may know, Lusk is a town with a rapidly expanding population and significant new housing developments have taken place in the area. It could be said that Lusk and the wider area are absorbing the housing needs of Dublin. It is important that we give back to the community which gives so much to us. The community is what makes Lusk what it is, but it is also about the round tower, which the local GAA club is named after. It is a really iconic part of the community and has such a rich, fantastic history. The tower dates from early Christian times to medieval times. It is important that we all work together to ensure that this is fully operational and that any work that needs to take place will have taken place well in advance of the year of the Normans next year. Driving this project forward is a key priority for Lusk Community Council and a key priority of mine. I want to work with the Minister of State to make sure these works are done and that the early Christian origins and the medieval history are brought to life for everybody. I look forward to working with the Minister of State on that. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-19