{"id":282553,"date":"2026-01-13T20:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/282553\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:01:10","slug":"money-no-issue-for-long-awaited-revamp-of-national-concert-hall-says-minister-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/282553\/","title":{"rendered":"Money \u2018no issue\u2019 for long awaited revamp of National Concert Hall, says Minister \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government is committed to supporting the long-planned redevelopment of the National Concert Hall<\/a> (NCH) and money is \u201cnot an issue\u201d, Minister for Culture Patrick O\u2019Donovan<\/a> has said. <\/p>\n

He was speaking at an event to mark the official start of construction on the NCH\u2019s new \u20ac21 million Discover Centre.<\/p>\n

The 1,400 sq m national centre for music participation, learning and community engagement \u2013 housed inside the former University College Dublin pathology department \u2013 is due to be completed in early 2027. It is the first phase of the much delayed wider transformation<\/a> of the NCH.<\/p>\n

The second phase will include the refurbishment and expansion of its main auditorium, as well as the creation of new recital and rehearsal spaces. Those aspects of the project have yet to go out to tender.<\/p>\n

\"Artist'sArtist’s impression of the plaza of the forthcoming NCH Discover Centre. Illustration: NCH\/OPW <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re anxious to try and get it started as soon as possible,\u201d the Minister said, describing it as \u201ca painstaking process\u201d. <\/p>\n

Kevin \u2018Boxer\u2019 Moran, the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works<\/a> (OPW), said it was positive day for the NCH and \u201ceverybody who has a love of music\u201d across Ireland, notwithstanding the length of time it has taken to start the work.<\/p>\n

The NCH first announced a major redevelopment plan in 2005, but it was derailed by the financial crash. A more modest plan was unveiled in 2018, with \u20ac78 million earmarked to pay for it under Project 2040<\/a>, but that was held up by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The plan, expected to see the capacity of the main auditorium increase from 1,200 to about 1,350, has since been revived, receiving planning permission<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

When the second phase begins, the National Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles will vacate the Earlsfort Terrace building and relocate for a period of at least three years.<\/p>\n

\"MinisterMinister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan (left) and Minister of State for the OPW Kevin Boxer Moran at the National Concert Hall, Dublin on Tuesday. Photograph: Cillian Sherlock\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Addressing the young musicians and singers present at Tuesday\u2019s event in the NCH\u2019s historic Kevin Barry Recital Room \u2013 where debates on the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty once took place \u2013 Mr O\u2019Donovan said they would be able to tell their grandchildren about the event in 40 to 50 years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope at that stage the rest of the project [will be] finished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Minister later indicated it was the complexity of the project that had led to a loss of momentum.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0NCH sought government exemption from funding revampOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI am kind of frustrated at the pace at which we\u2019re delivering on the national cultural institutions, that\u2019s no secret,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that there is other work that we want to do here, and it is very slow, and I understand the fact that it\u2019s slow, because this is a really important building.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government is committed to supporting the long-planned redevelopment of the National Concert Hall (NCH) and money is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17,106156,31952,4574],"class_list":{"0":"post-282553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-kevin-boxer-moran","13":"tag-national-concert-hall","14":"tag-patrick-odonovan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115889575297387132","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}