The Office of Public Works (OPW) has decided against the direct sale of the Mountjoy prison site and will instead draw up a master plan to redevelop the campus, in what is expected be one of the most ambitious innercity regeneration programmes in recent years.
Tom Parlon, Minister for State at the OPW, is to announce today that the Government is advertising for the appointment of consultants to work on drawing up the plan for the 7.9 hectare site on the north side of the city. It is expected that the plan will include a wide range of development, including residential, office and commercial space.
The use of part of the site to provide space for the Mater hospital is also expected to part of the consultation.
A key issue will also be the preservation of historical buildings on the site, along with unmarked graves belonging to former prisoners who were executed there.
It had originally been expected that the State would sell the Mountjoy site to the highest bidder, following a Government decision last year to replace it with a new prison at Thornton, in north Co Dublin, which is four miles south of Ashbourne. The site has a potential value of hundreds of millions of euro, although its sensitive and historical nature would have presented a challenge to any private developer.
Instead, following consultations with the Department of Justice and the office of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in whose constituency Mountjoy is located, the OPW decided in recent weeks to develop a master plan for the site.
The consultants will be asked to work with the OPW to draw up a comprehensive plan, which will then be brought to planners in Dublin City Council. This will include the types and densities of new buildings and a full environmental impact assessment.
No building on the site is listed at present, but it is believed that many of them could be subject to preservation orders by the council if under threat.
The consultants will also be asked to canvas for submissions from local communities and groups.
The prison dates back to 1850 when it was built as a first stop for men being transported to Australia and Tasmania. It was designed by Col Joshua Jebb, the architect of Pentonville prison in England. Its best known former inmates include republicans jailed during the War of Independence, such as Kevin Barry, who was executed along with nine other volunteers. Their remains were exhumed and reinterred at Glasnevin Cemetery in a State funeral.
Mountjoy is still the largest prison in the State, and currently holds just over 450 prisoners. It is also houses the women's prison, or Dóchas Centre, and St Patrick's Institution for young offenders.