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16 Henrietta Street

International Uilleann Piping Visitor Centre and Theatre at 16 Henrietta Street

UPDATE: October 2022
In May 2022, Na Píobairí Uilleann launched its Organisational Strategy for the period 2022-2024. One of the strategic pillars contained therein is to build an International Uilleann Piping Centre and Theatre at 16 Henrietta Street. This page sets out the reasoning behind this initiative and details the progress to date on this project. Please check back in here for updates on progress in relation to the project.

 

When Na Píobairí Uilleann (NPU) was founded in 1968, the future of uilleann piping was uncertain, with few players and only one manufacturer. Thanks to the efforts of NPU, the instrument is now an international musical means of expression with thousands of players throughout the world and skilled full and part-time manufacturers. Uilleann piping is a living, vibrant tradition which, in 2017, was the first Irish element inscribed to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

For many, the uilleann pipes are the distinctive sound of Ireland providing an introduction and a primary gateway to Ireland’s wider heritage and culture. NPU itself is an internationally recognised cultural institution and is the only Irish UNESCO accredited cultural NGO.

Since 1982 NPU has operated from No.15 Henrietta Street, leased from Dublin City Council. However, this fine Georgian building, though central to the present-day strength and health of uilleann piping, has several distinct limitations – in both space and design – which constrain further development.

Fortunately, NPU has an opportunity to construct an extension on the adjacent vacant site, where No.16 Henrietta Street once stood. This addition would in effect double the space currently available to NPU and provide significant further benefits including:

  • expanded performance and tailored tuition spaces
  • a museum and exhibition space dimension
  • significant tourist activity focussing on heritage and performance of the uilleann pipes
  • both No.15 and No.16 will be accessible to all throughout each building
  • NPU’s PipeCraft instrument making training facility will be relocated to No.16 resulting in annual savings of over €20,000 in establishment costs in perpetuity

 The “No.16” Project will cost an estimated €7.4 million and take a year and a half to complete. Many project milestones have been completed:

  • an award winning design has been adopted
  • planning permission secured
  • Heads of Agreement to develop the site is in place with Dublin City Council
  • a cost benefit report has been completed

Commercially, benefits are expected to accrue from:

  • attendances at concerts in the new performance spaces
  • tuition activities which will now be possible on an extended basis
  • retail revenue from cafeteria and merchandise business
  • admission charges to exhibitions and tour groups
  • net income from these activities is projected to reach approximately €117,000 in five years. In terms of gains to the economy as a whole and to Dublin City in particular, benefits are expected from the employment and income generated in the expansion of NPU itself, from external suppliers of goods and services to NPU and, most importantly, from expenditure by visitors to NPU.

Making full allowance for the extent to which some of this activity would have occurred somewhere else in the economy in the absence of the project, it is calculated that the net economic gain, directly and indirectly from the project would be €362,000 in Year 5, rising at approximately 5% per annum thereafter.

When the commercial and economic gains are added and discounted by the 4% rate specified in the Public Spending Code, it is found that the Net Present Value of the project is  €364,000, thereby surpassing the economic threshold of acceptability in the Code.

But cultural investments cannot be judged on an economic basis alone. The NPU Project will:

  • provide a cultural and community hub
  • conserve and enhance the Henrietta Georgian streetscape
  • complement and augment the experience at No.14 Henrietta Street
  • bring activity to the inner city which has unquantifiable but tangible benefits

The move into No.15 forty years ago provided NPU with the platform to develop into the vibrant cultural organisation that it is today. This project promises transformational development and the opportunity for a greatly expanded base of activity.

Since 1982 NPU has completed restoration work on No. 15 and project development work on No.16 totalling €1.73 Million net of government grants in present day terms. This was achieved through a combination of fundraising activities and voluntary in-kind work.

Our successful track record over 50 years of responsible management, careful stewardship of resources and keen artistic awareness will result in a valuable and successful outcome for all stakeholders.