New ideas for what to do with the GPO have been suggested as the Dublin City Centre Taskforce report is due to be published next week.

The Taskforce was commissioned by Taoiseach Simon Harris in May as a part of efforts to develop the city centre into a more desirable place to live, work and visit.

Recommendations to revitalise O'Connell Street and the GPO are expected to be included in the final report - which will be published next week.

An Post moved its historic headquarters from the GPO to North Wall Quay in June, leading many to wonder what would be done with the empty space.

On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, author and journalist Frank McDonald suggested the space could be used for social housing.

“One of the things that we really need to do in Dublin is to repurpose the largely vacant upper floors of buildings and bring them back into residential use,” Mr McDonald said.

“And I think that that would be a great thing to do with the GPO, because you could create at least I would say 300 or 400  apartments there.”

Community

Mr McDonald submitted the idea – among others – to the taskforce, with the idea that it would be a good way to bring communities back to the city centre.

“It's been done - for example, the H&M shop on College Green on the corner of Church Lane there, all the upper floors of that building are residential,” said Mr McDonald.

Other proposals to develop the building include putting in the new RTÉ headquarters, a museum or a leading Government department.

Taskforce

The Taskforce has not recommended a decision on the building.

Following the publication of the report next week, the Government is expected to establish an interdepartmental group to report further recommendations by the end of the year.

This group would be responsible for assessing the cost and policy implications of the plan each year, and will be overseen by the Department of Taoiseach.

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