COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, February 27, 2023

QUESTION NO.

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

"To ask the CEO to update the committee on actions in respect of plans for the Tallaght Heritage Centre; will he confirm the schedule being followed and make a statement?"

REPLY:

To facilitate the development of a new cultural amenity for the citizens and visitors to South Dublin through the provision of a Heritage Centre/visitor experience in Tallaght Town Centre, South Dublin County Council engaged the services of 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. This was done with a view to recommending a core narrative for animation and presentation at the new Heritage/Visitor Centre.

EPIC Heritage Consulting Ltd were asked to undertake a research phase which would inform core themes. This phase consisted of 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 also considered key audience segments – what kind of people are likely to be interested in a heritage centre and what kind of centre would attract them -  as well as undertaking a comparator analysis in relation to other museums and heritage centres.  

SDCC are working with EPIC to finalise Phase two of the project to produce a clear interpretative strategy and interpretative plan which can be implemented by third parties.  This work will demonstrate how the core narrative and its associated messages will be imparted in terms of the materials and mediums (e.g., multimedia, interactive, AR, VR, digitisation of archives etc) to be used in order to deliver a distinctive visitor experience.

In parallel to the above, the Council published a tender to engage the services of an architect led design team to progress the design and delivery of this facility. A number of tenders were received and an architectural firm was appointed in February, 2023. That team has commenced initial works on this project. Ultimately, the design team will incorporate the physical elements of the interpretation plan mentioned above within the building’s envelope in consultation with EPIC.

Once the site surveys and preliminary building concept has been developed, the Council intends to bring the plans to Part 8 later this year, with a contractor expected to be appointed in early 2024.