The National Print Museum is on the hunt for a new home
Since the early 90’s, the National Print Museum has been located at the old Garrison Chapel in Beggars Bush Barracks on Haddington Road. The Museum, which is housed in an OPW building and leased free of charge, was officially opened by then-President Mary Robinson in 1996. Now, a redevelopment of a number of OPW buildings within the Barracks is on the cards and that means the National Print Museum must find a new home. “The OPW want the premises back by November 2021. Initially, the news came as a huge shock to us. With the support of the industry, we had redeveloped this building and had thought we’d be here forever. All good things must come to an end however and so we’ll be moving on,” said Carla Marrinan Funder, Chief Executive Officer at the Museum. Since learning of the OPW’s plans for redevelopment, the Museum has been in talks with various government agencies and the outlook is positive. “There has been quite a bit of encouragement and we’re hopeful that we might be able to find a better, more fit-for-purpose home. In some ways we have outgrown the space here. We’re currently renting a big storage facility as we just don’t have enough space and programming has also been restricted as we don’t have space to do more or indeed to display more. This could be an opportunity to find somewhere bigger and better.”
The National Print Museum is calling on the industry to keep an eye out for a suitable premises. “We’re looking for buildings at the moment and would be particularly interested in derelict premises that may have once been a printing house or a newspaper. We think it would be really nice to be in a building with a rich printing industry.” The Museum also has plans to start a fundraising campaign to fit out the new premises. “We hope the industry continues to support us and we’ll be releasing details of the campaign over the next while.”
If you have any ideas as to where the National Print Museum could relocate, email [email protected]
