AN POST HAS lodged plans with Dublin City Council to construct a new two-storey building within the GPO complex ahead of the centenary of the 1916 Rising.

The new facility will be built in an existing courtyard just behind the public post office area and will feature a new exhibition, a gallery space and a landscaped outdoor area.

The new development will be integrated with GPO’s current main post office hall with An Post pledging that it will allow for greater access by members of the public.

The new building will extend the current exhibition space at the GPO to approximately 1,600 sqm.

An Post say that the project will reflect the centrality of the GPO to the events of Easter 1916 and will be “a fitting focus for the commemoration of the events of Easter week 1916″.

It is also envisaged that the new facility will be available to be used as part of the Decade  of Commemoration currently being undertaken by DCC.

“This is a really exciting development which will ensure that Easter 2016 is suitably marked with a fitting development commemorating both the centenary of the Easter Rising and the building that forms such a central element of the story,” said an An Post spokesperson.

The original construction of the GPO is also the focus of an anniversary itself this year with construction of the O’Connell Street building having begun 200 years ago in 1814.

Much of the building was destroyed during the Easter Rising  and was rebuilt and reopened in 1929.

Plans for the new development have been lodged with DCC and planning permission has been sought.

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