COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, June 27, 2022

QUESTION NO.

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

"To ask the CEO to update the Tallaght Area Committee regarding plans for the proposed Tallaght Heritage Centre at Civic Headquarters and will he make a statement?"

REPLY:

South Dublin County Council is in the process of developing a world-class County Heritage Centre/ visitor experience in Tallaght Town Centre that will act as a new cultural amenity for the citizens and visitors to South Dublin.

To facilitate this work the Council has engaged the services of EPIC Heritage Consulting Ltd, an experienced tourism and heritage interpretation consultancy, to identify and assess the various themes that reflect the rich history and heritage resource of South Dublin County, with a view to recommending a core narrative for animation and presentation at the new Heritage/Visitor Centre.

As part of this information gathering piece which will inform core themes, EPIC have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders representing local history and heritage societies, active citizen groups, local historians, and members of the public across the county through focus group meetings, face to face meetings, telephone interviews, e-mail interviews and an online survey to give an idea of the rich history there is to discover across the South Dublin County region. EPIC will use the information gathered to creatw an Interpretive Strategy and Plan for the heritage centre.

In the meantime, the Council is preparing documentation in which to engage the services of an architect led design team, who having regard to the work undertaken by EPIC, will progress the design and delivery of a purpose built facility to accommodate a County Heritage Centre for the overall South County Dublin area. It is expected that this tender process will commence within the next few weeks.

The development of the Heritage Centre in Tallaght will complement current investment of over €80m in other infrastructure projects underway in the area such as the delivery of a new innovation centre, the completion of Tallaght Stadium bringing it to 10,000-seater capacity, a new public transport interchange, major public realm enhancement, a new affordable rental housing scheme and the district heating project. These projects, together with existing retail, community and cultural infrastructure represent a structured investment in enhancing the vibrancy and attraction of Tallaght town centre, representative of a focal point of a population approaching almost 100,000 people.