Could the former University College Dublin building at Earlsfort Terrace be a national concert hall?
The original plan was to construct the John F Kennedy Memorial Concert Hall at Haddington Road in Ballsbridge. The government has now scrapped this idea and is looking to to redevelop the Great Hall in the University College Dublin building at Earlsfort Terrace. This new plan has been met with considerable opposition, in particular by the all-party committee set up to implement the project.
The former Lord Mayor of Dublin, Maurice Dockrell a Fine Gael TD opposes the new plan.
The Great Hall in Earlsfort Terrace is not a suitable place and in our opinion can't be made suitable.
Maurice Dockrell says the Great Hall is not big enough, is difficult to access, has insufficient parking, and lacks the ancillary requirements of a modern concert hall. He feels that if the current plans go ahead, Dublin will never get a proper concert hall. He is still hopeful that the government will present a better alternative plan.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 29 April 1974. The reporter is Eddie Barrett.
