Concert hall:PLANS TO erect a national concert hall in memory of John F Kennedy on Dublin's Haddington Road turned into an 11-year saga and were eventually abandoned because of the economic situation, government files show.
In 1963, the government decided that there should be a State memorial to the late US president and it would take the form of a concert and assembly hall. The military barracks site at Beggar's Bush was chosen and plans were put on display in 1965. Costs were estimated at £2.5 million.
The all-party Oireachtas committee in charge of the project decided that a delegation should travel to the US in September 1965 to present the plans to John F Kennedy's widow Jacqueline and it asked if this could be arranged.
However, their plans came to a sudden halt when the Department of Finance wrote to the Department of External Affairs in July 1965, saying that "matters in regard to the concert hall project, by reason of the general economic situation, are in a degree of flux at the moment".
TK Whitaker, secretary of the Department of Finance, later wrote that the minister for finance, who was then Jack Lynch, "considers it would be premature, and therefore inadvisable, to make any arrangement for a presentation of plans to Mrs Kennedy this year".
In 1966, media reports claimed that the project had been shelved but this was denied by a government spokesman, according to the Washington Post.
By 1971, the estimated cost had risen to £5.25 million and the all-party committee recommended that the Phoenix Park be chosen as an alternative site.
In July 1973, a Department of Finance memo to the government said the minister for finance "suggests that the government should at this stage take a hard look at the whole concept". The cost was now set at £6.5 million.
While respecting "the emotions which in a large part gave rise to the idea and also the status and Irish connections of the late president Kennedy, it is doubtful whether at this stage there would be the same degree of public support for as costly a project as the Memorial Hall promises to be", the memo stated.
It pointed to the UCD premises at Earlsfort Terrace as an alternative site - the premises were being transferred to the State as the university made the move to Belfield.
The OPW's principal architect thought the Earlsfort Terrace building lacked "civic dignity" and the arrangements were "less than would normally be expected for a national concert hall" but he felt it would be musically successful. The project cost was estimated at £0.5 million.
Minister for finance Richie Ryan asked the government to approve the development of the Earlsfort Terrace site instead of the Kennedy memorial project.
But the saga was not yet over and that plan was later withdrawn from the cabinet agenda so that the minister could examine the possibility of erecting the hall at the RDS. This site was found to be unsuitable and the minister asked the government to approve the Earlsfort Terrace site in March 1974. The National Coalition was in power at this stage and came in for strong criticism from deputy Michael O'Kennedy, who said it was a "grave disservice" to the American people and the Kennedy family to abandon the memorial project without consultation.
President Hillery opened the National Concert Hall in September 1981.
The files also show that sculptor Felix de Weldon, famous for the Iwo Jima memorial, had offered his services in connection with a Kennedy memorial in Ireland. He was recommended by the Irish ambassador to Washington, William P Fay, but it is unclear what happened to this project.
