An Post and Shannon Heritage have announced that all is on track for the opening of the new €7 million An Post GPO Witness History visitor attraction this Easter to commemorate the events of Easter 1916.
While the centre is in its final stages of construction, the exciting elements that will be part of this permanent visitor centre were unveiled at a presentation by Barney Whelan, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, An Post, and Aline FitzGerald, General Manager of the centre.
An Post GPO Witness History is an immersive, interactive visitor attraction bringing history to life though technology, video, sound and authentic artefacts on loan from various donors. Its special effects, soundscapes and heartfelt stories of real people in extraordinary circumstances will captivate all age-groups – from the curious, young international visitor to the well-informed history buff – there is plenty to interest and engage individuals, families and touring groups.
The centrepiece of the visitor attraction will be an immersive semicircular audiovisual space that will put visitors right inside the GPO during the five days in which it was both the military command centre and the seat of the Provisional Irish Government. The centre will be opened by An Taoiseach on Friday 25th March and officially opened to the public on Tuesday 29th March.
Barney Whelan said: “This centre has been the brainchild of An Post for almost five years now and we are delighted that we are now in a position to outline some of the exciting elements we have in place. Shannon Heritage will manage the visitor centre for us and it will add to its very successful prestigious portfolio of visitor centres that the company operates around Ireland.”
Aline FitzGerald, General Manager on behalf of Shannon Heritage, added: “The aim of the centre is to give visitors a real sense of what it was like to be in the GPO and Dublin at that time and to reflect on how those days shaped Ireland in the 100 years since. We are looking forward to welcoming our domestic and overseas visitors to this wonderful new visitor centre and pre-bookings are very strong at this point.”
Advance bookings are available at www.gpowitnesshistory.ie
