SIPTU may let out a substantial part of its headquarters, Liberty Hall, when it completes the present refurbishment programme. This is part of a general reorganisation that will see Ireland's largest union move many personnel to locations on Dublin's periphery to better service members. It is in talks with Dunloe Ewart on how best to use its property portfolio.
Last week, tenders were sought for the £3 million (€3.8m) plan to convert the current 750-seat auditorium into a multi-purpose cultural centre. The new centre will be able to present plays, films, musicals and other activities.
However it will normally seat only 420 people as the stage will have to be more than doubled in size and new facilities such as improved acoustics and a projection room will require considerable space. SIPTU general secretary Mr John McDonnell said the union had "a number of big auditoriums for meetings and concerts which were built in the 1960s. These did happen for a while but we are now moving to multi-purpose halls."
The rest of the first floor at Liberty Hall, which currently consists of an entrance to the auditorium and a number of smaller meeting rooms, will have a more open-plan arrangement including a bar and coffee lounge overlooking the River Liffey. The union is applying for a theatre licence, which would also allow it to serve food and drink.
The union is still considering the options of self-managing the new auditorium or franchising it out. It is also considering letting out other sections of the building as offices are relocated to industrial estates nearer to the M50.
The 15-storey building has 49,000 sq ft, net of lifts and stairs. SIPTU has full use of the block with the exception of part of one floor, which is rented by the National Union of Journalists. There are 21 car spaces at Liberty Hall and the union has access to another 40 at a site it owns at South Gloucester Street on the south side of the river.
The discussions with Dunloe Ewart are likely to centre on the possibility of that company refurbishing and managing Liberty Hall and possibly taking an equity stake in it. A spokesman said the company had no comment to make at this stage.
Like all SIPTU premises, Liberty Hall is grossly undervalued on the union's books at just over £1 million (€1.27m). The total value of all SIPTU premises, which include 30 owned buildings and up to 15 rented offices, is £6 million (€7.6m). This is the historic cost of acquisition. The reinstatement value of the premises at £29 million (€36.8m) is still very low.
The head of the union's administration and services division, Mr John Fay, said: "Revaluation of our premises would only boost the balance sheet, but would not bring in a single extra cent." That could change if the union goes ahead with its extensive refurbishment plans. However, Mr Fay stresses that discussions with Dunloe Ewart are at a "very toe-in-the-water stage". The premises manager Mr Tom Dunne said costings were still being done on upgrading the infrastructure, including telecommunications, to make it attractive to business tenants.
Only building contractors with a good safety and industrial relations record can expect to be considered for the refurbishment contract. The architect for the new cultural centre is Mr Brian Hogan, who won two awards last year. One was for the new Waterford health centre and the other was for a social housing development in South Gloucester Street on land donated by SIPTU. The original architect of Liberty Hall, Mr Des Rea O'Kelly, is acting as a consultant on the building.
Liberty Hall is one of Dublin's landmark sites. The legendary founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union Jim Larkin originally took a lease on the old Northumberland Hotel at Beresford Place for £5,500 in 1913 and renamed it Liberty Hall. It provided soup kitchens to feed starving workers in the lockout of the same year and was bombarded during the 1916 Rising.
It finally fell victim of the ITGWU's own redevelopment plans in 1962, when it was demolished to make way for the present building. It was completed in 1965 and became the headquarters of SIPTU when that union was formed from a merger of the ITGWU and the Federated Workers Union of Ireland in 1990. Both unions were founded by Larkin.
