THE CENTRAL Bank is considering moving from its iconic headquarters in Dame Street, Dublin, to a single large building in the Docklands area that would accommodate 1,500 staff.
An internal memo from chief operations officer Gerry Quinn, seen by The Irish Times, said: "We are currently looking at our accommodation options [and] we have committed to putting some firm proposals on the table in the coming month or so".
One option looked at by the Central Bank would involve acquiring the shell of a large office complex on North Wall Quay, once the putative future headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank – abandoned after the collapse of Liam Carroll’s Zoe group.
Although this scheme is not specifically mentioned in the memo, one staff member refers to some “very fine” unfinished buildings near Spencer Dock. “Guidelines do not permit being specific, but one of the above in particular might be extremely suitable,” he says.
This was a clear reference to the aborted Anglo Irish project, whose hulk symbolised the property crash. Last week, it was reported US bank BNY Mellon was looking at leasing the complex, which would have nearly 21,400 sq m of office space.
In his memo to staff on a confidential in-house blog, Mr Quinn said the “current set-up of multiple locations is not a long-term solution”, with staff based in Dame Street, Spencer Dock and Harcourt Road.
“There are a number of potential alternatives for single buildngs in the business parks that exist in various locations outside the city centre. However, this clearly brings issues in terms of a suitable location from a business and staff perspective,” he wrote. “Closer to the city centre, there are more limited alternatives for a single building in the broad Docklands/Dublin 4 areas. What is clear is that there is no viable single building in the immediate vicinity of Dame Street.
“This brings us to the second option. In this case we would hold on to the tower block in Dame Street and supplement that with one other building, again broadly in the same districts as above. This would also require a significant refurbishment of the tower block.”
Mr Quinn told staff that “there are significant financial implications that need to be taken into account, including lease-versus-buy”. He also asked how relevant they thought the tower block was as “a ‘symbol’ of the Central Bank”.
Most staff wanted it retained as part of a “twin building” solution, with departmental majorities of 60 to 91 per cent. “It is an iconic piece of architecture that is synonymous with the Central Bank”, one wrote.
But there was strong support for “a building big enough to house us all under one roof, fitted out to a Spencer Dock standard ... close to all main transport links – bus, rail, Luas, port tunnel”, another blogger wrote.
A bank spokesman said: “The Central Bank currently accommodates its staff across a number of buildings in Dublin. Due to an expansion in functions and in staff numbers, the bank is involved in examining its long-term strategic accommodation needs and its options in that regard. There are no specific proposals or decisions made at this time.”
