Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Bay South, Chris Andrews, has demanded that government protect the Iveagh Gardens.

Teachta Andrews said:

“Government must protect the Iveagh Gardens. The public want the Iveagh Gardens, which belong to the State, to be allowed to remain intact and the protected boundary wall to be left in place.

“The protected boundary wall is in the way of the new Science Centre plan and that is why there have been proposals to demolish it.

“In other European capital cities precious heritage parks like the Iveagh Gardens would be protected by the state. Instead, our Government casually handed over a part of a heritage park to facilitate the interest of a small cohort. This should be unthinkable.

“I am calling on the Government to recognise the value of the Iveagh Gardens in its current state and halt the proposed demolition of the boundary wall to facilitate the building of a Science Centre.

“We call on our Government Ministers to listen to the widespread public objections to the plan. The Government should uphold the rights and protections of our parks and not facilitate the diminishment of priceless heritage.

“An important part of protecting heritage is to recognise the value of a place – to the people who value it. The value the Iveagh Gardens holds for the people who value it is being arrogantly dismissed by the NCSC plan.

“We should not have to fight to preserve our heritage and heritage parks against vested interests no matter how worthy those interests consider themselves.

“The only reason for ‘opening up’ the park is to create accessibility to the Science Centre. “The excuse is a nonsense and does not stand up to scrutiny in any argument for the conservation of enclosed parks.

“Our heritage parks have the right to exist free from the threat of interference from vested interests. The Government should be upholding those protections and not facilitating exploitation of priceless heritage

“Our public parks and Gardens must be free from interference and not handed over in whole or in part to facilitate building by vested interests.

“Through the OPW the state undertook to protect, conserve, and restore’ Iveagh Gardens for the city of Dublin. The state must honour this commitment and preserve the Iveagh Gardens intact. I will fight to save the boundary wall and fight to save the Iveagh Gardens.”