The idea of obtaining the Dame St building as a bank to secure citizen empowerment started late last year. It was sidelined in January due to a rumor of plans to move the Department of Health from Hawkins House into the site.
That rumor was not accurate but the reality illustrates why something is required to suppress the power of cronyism. The corrosive influence of privilege is repugnant and ominously resilient.
The Department of Health (via the OPW) has indeed made plans to transfer its offices to a former bank HQ. However, not Dame St but Baggot St is the destination. The OPW is (reportedly) spending public money to purchase the former Bank of Ireland HQ.
The vendor gained control of this vast building by purchasing discounted loans from NAMA. Larry Goodman is the vendor.
The staff in the Department of Health deserve to be properly housed. In fairness so do all the NGO bodies who work day in and day out to recognize and deliver the energy that builds a resilient society.
To: Governor and Commission of the Central Bank of Ireland
The Citizen Bank
To make provision for the transfer of their Dame Street HQ for the purpose of establishing a Public Interest Observatory
Why is this important?
How does a society learn from its errors?
In a vibrant republic people obtain purpose and trust from the seat of government, which is rarely a single institution.
Sadly, the Irish people are too often witnesses to how weakly their Republic is governed. The people cannot find in their institutions a sustained capacity to defend their interests. Such lack of trust is untenable.
Given the benefit of learning from past errors - quite relevant to Irish society in this centenary year - we need to address an unresolved disaster from our century. The catastrophic banking collapse of 2008/9 was nurtured by the weakness of our public institutions.
We need to learn from the reality of this financial disaster which casts its shadow of debt over us. We have to accept that our Republic was attacked by the negligence of our financial regulators, at numerous levels. We have to accept that there was an implosion of the public interest and this banking episode was simply the means for that to tear into our social fabric.
WE can learn from these errors by demanding a forum to establish a public governance where our futures are made safer; Where we can examine and teach and guard against those who would place the citizen’s interests at risk again. In effect a foundation would be established to facilitate citizen empowerment and participatory decision making.
We can find the power to insure that this state is fully aware of its responsibilities to our society.
And now our Central Bank intends to vacate the ground zero of our odious debt. Is it their prerogative to tell us that this landmark is not available for learning and public discourse? We say that at long last our building can begin to explicitly serve the interests of Irish society.
Note: users of the building would be Charities and NGOs who agree to engage in a cooperative enterprise to reduce disadvantage and to coordinate front-line intervention services. The types of services to be assimilated could range across housing, health and social protection, legal assistance and debt resolution facilities, planning, community development, and sustainability.
The list of agencies and NGOs who could be integrated into this “hub” runs to several dozen.
such a transfer might be established by a Covenant whereby for twenty years the Foundation would have control of the premises. In those two decades it could generate rental income from commercial tenancy in suitable areas of the building. This income along with other forms of public support would create a development account to allow for an eventual full legal transfer from the Central Bank.