The current owner of the house in which James Joyce set his famous story 'The Dead' has said if the Arts Council or the Government are interested in purchasing the property, he would be a willing seller.
The house on Usher's Island is currently being occupied by a group which includes anti-immigration campaigners.
The former Monaghan GAA manager Séamus McEnaney purchased 15 Usher's Island on Dublin's south quays over a year ago and applied for planning permission to convert the house into ten apartments.
But in a statement to RTÉ News this week, Mr McEnaney did not want to comment on the occupation of the building by protesters but said: "If the Government or the Arts Council are willing to buy it, I'm a willing seller."
There have long been calls for the building to be preserved and used as a museum or literature hub.
The Georgian house, which was built around 1775, was the home of Mr Joyce's maternal great aunts in the 1890s.
The women, who occupied the upper floors and ran a music school from the building, held Christmas parties which provided the inspiration for 'The Dead' - the final short story in Mr Joyce's famous book Dubliners.
The five-storey red brick building, which faces the James Joyce Bridge, was damaged by fire in the 1990s and remained derelict until the year 2000.
It was bought and refurbished by a barrister and was used for some Joyce related events until its owner filed for bankruptcy in the UK in 2012.
In 2019, plans by its owners to convert it into a 54-bed hostel resulted in a campaign involving more than 100 people from literature, academia and the arts, including Colm Tóibín, Sally Rooney and Anjelica Huston calling for it to be preserved.
Last year, plans by Mr McEnaney to convert the property into apartments re-ignited the debate about its future but in recent weeks it emerged that the building has been occupied by anti-immigration campaigners.
The group, which calls itself 'Independent Minds', has posted notices in several of the building's windows alongside an Irish tricolour.
It said that since 2024 the building "has been under civil occupation by an independently minded group of people from all walks of life".
The group added: "We collectively want to see other persons and groups come forward with regards to all types of corruption and the homeless issue from all over the country.
"We also want to see this building restored and handed over to the Dublin people as a museum to James Joyce and his work 'The Dead'".
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The notice said for more details people should call a listed mobile phone number.
RTÉ News attempted to call to the house and call the number, but received no initial response.
RTÉ News later received a text message asking for more detail about the request and upon request for an interview about the occupation, the group replied that nobody was available to give a statement.
"We will get back to you next week and thank you for your interest," it said.
The Arts Council and An Taisce previously objected to the building's redevelopment as apartments.
Its owners offer to sell to the State is now likely to resurrect the debate over its cultural value
Dr Alice Ryan, curator of the James Joyce Tower in Sandycove, said that 15 Usher's Island has the potential to form a key part of the James Joyce tourism trail and that the State should take the opportunity to purchase it.
"'The Dead' is probably one of the most famous short stories in the world and people are going to come from all over the world to see this location," she said.
Dr Ryan said it is "very important" that the house is preserved, adding "it's very important for the Joyce trail around the world".
She said: "There are many places in Trieste, in Zurich and in Paris where Joyce lived which are celebrated as places where he wrote.
"We have here, the architecture of the actual location of these masterpieces and it seems like such an obvious thing to be able to do for say Culture Ireland or for the Arts Council, if they have the opportunity to buy this building and make it into a cultural centre."
Poet Paula Meehan, who was one of the signatories of the letter in 2019 calling for the buildings acquisition by the State, said the popularity of previous re-enactments of 'The Dead' and other Joycean works shows that there is the potential for the building to be a visitor and tourist attraction that could be self-funded through such performances.
"It's really priceless. It's a beautiful house, it has these elegant rooms, it's full of light and it has the legacy of being the setting for the short story of 'The Dead' in a time when we really need to guard our resources, especially cultural resources," she said.
"These houses won't last forever," she added.
Ms Meehan said: "We're crying out in the city for studio space, working space right across the arts, we're also crying out for places to house visiting writers and artists internationally.
"It's a UNESCO City of Literature.
"There are people coming in all the time, and one of the problems is, where do you put them, the visiting writers?"
She said the property is "tailor-made" for such projects, adding the "the sky's the limit, all it needs is imagination and the funding to get it up and running".
"I think it's an eminently sustainable project," she said.
"I think it would only cost a few fecking bike sheds. It's not going to break the bank. It's an investment that will last and sustain artists through the generations. To me, there's no argument it should be snapped up," she added.
Ms Meehan said the building "definitely belongs in State care", adding the "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to safeguard this house for the Irish people".
She said: "It's really crucial. It's a house of international standing, it's known all over the world, it draws people to Dublin, as Joyce does all over the place.
"This whole city is interwoven with his writings and he's one of the few things that we have really going for us.
"This is sustainable cultural capital for the future."
