The GRO Research Room (for those doing Irish family history or other genealogical whatsits) at its new address at 1 Werburgh Street, Dublin.

The move hasn’t been smooth, as one historian explains:

Dear Brian Hayes, T.D.,

How are you? I am writing to give you a little feedback about the location of the General Register Office (GRO) research room. Since the research room has been in the new location for a few weeks now, I’m including a few photographs, and a little information to help you out, along with my thoughts.When you were rationalising the move of the GRO research room from the rented premises at the Irish Life Centre to a state owned building on Werburgh Street, you described the building as “at the rear of Dublin Castle”. Since I’ve actually been to the place, I thought I would write to let you know that the building at 1 Werburgh Street which houses the new GRO research room is not at the rear of Dublin Castle. 

At the rear of Dublin Castle is a beautiful garden and green space, complete with a labyrinth walk. It’s quite lovely and welcoming. When I’m in Dublin I often take a walk around the labyrinth. The open airy space is quite conducive to helping one when there is a difficult decision to be made, or when one needs to give his head a shake about a poor choice he made. You might consider taking a labyrinthine walk. It’s very beneficial.

You might even consider getting your driver to swing by the place on the way to the Dáil. You could get out of your lovely car and take a walk from the labyrinth along the streets which take you to the new home of the GRO research room.The street I had to walk along in order to get to the new research room was neither lovely, nor welcoming, and although I was harassed by a group of ne’er-do-wells on my way to the building, at least I didn’t get mugged.

It’s good that you didn’t choose to move the GRO research room elsewhere, such as into the under-utilized former Tourist Office on Suffolk Street. That might have made too much sense, and would have had us doubting whether or not you are a real politician. It’s better that you made this backward move into a substandard building surrounded by prison-style fencing. It helps to remind some of us of our family members who were incarcerated during the Land War, the Irish War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War, without the need to once again stop by Kilmainham Gaol. Thanks. You’ve killed two birds with one stone. Such a time saving idea.You mentioned that the new GRO research room location had undergone “extensive renovations”. I guess I need to get a new dictionary to help me understand this new meaning of ‘extensive’, and maybe the meaning of ‘renovations’ too, or perhaps you could tell me, what do you mean by these terms?

With respect to health and safety, I have a couple of questions, so please do read on. Most of the windows at ground level are covered with metal caging, and with the exception of the one in the picture above, they are all opaque, so you cannot see outside — probably best given the dodgy area in which the building is located — but giving me some safety concerns with respect to the building itself. There is ONE single exit from this site for patrons using the reading room. Mr. Hayes, if there was a fire or any other sort of emergency, and that single exit were to become blocked for any reason, how would GRO patrons and staff escape from this building?Also, there is a single toilet for the use of ALL patrons. There are enough tables in the room to seat about 40 researchers at a time, and throughout the day there are always many people who stop in to pick up birth, marriage and death information. Any person with even an ounce of sense would conclude that a single toilet for the use of more than 40 people is not just unhygienic, it is simply disgusting. Would you be satisfied if there was only one single toilet available for the use of the members of the Dáil Éireann? As to the exterior of the building, the ugly colours chosen are perfect — the sad grey facade and the teal to match the prison gates — because they remind us that maybe Ireland really isn’t on the road to recovery after all. I especially like the old grey wall covered with graffiti, and the lovely lot next door to the building, and all the garbage moored up against the fencing. Was all of that part of the extensive renovations? Perhaps you can find a couple of heroin addicts and get them to hang out there. Doing so will make complete your apparent plan to bring a real gritty urban feel to the place. The tourists will love it. By the way, leaving the GRO research room last week was a real treat too. In the pouring rain, I had to close my umbrella in order to make my way around a delivery van — pictured below — that was completely blocking the entry gate which leads to the building. Thanks for that narrow entry gate.

The staff of the GRO research room are surprisingly upbeat, considering the prison-like nature of their new digs. Their work space is very cramped and there are no windows other than the very small ones at the top of the building. In terms of work ergonomics it does not strike me as a very conducive space, nor a particularly safe one. Some of the staff seem happy just to be employed, but even if there are some who are not content, who cares if employees are happy anyway? For that matter who cares about any Irish citizens who are very unhappy about the move? It’s not as if they vote in elections.The choice of this site makes it very clear that the Irish Government views the GRO research room as a very low priority. In the future, it is likely I will be returning to the GRO research room simply because of my work as a historian, and I will deal with things as I find them. Clearly the Irish government is not interested in bringing the GRO research room into the 21st century. The promised research terminals are not in place, and I doubt online access will come into play anytime soon. Perhaps next time you need to save money, before you consider moving a facility such as the GRO research room, you might look at areas in which the savings would be of a more significant nature. For example, you might consider TD pension reform. Just a thought. Have a nice day.

Yikes.

GRO Research Room: A very low priority: An Open Letter to Brian Hayes, T.D.