OPW: Fresh ambition for heritage and capital works

With almost 800 sites in its care, the Office of Public Works (OPW) is responsible for the national heritage estate, as well as the delivery of an ambitious capital works programme. eolas Magazine speaks with Rosemary Collier, the OPW’s new Head of Heritage and Capital Works Delivery.

Having served as the OPW’s Director of National Historic Properties for five years, Rosemary Collier has been appointed to a “once in a lifetime” role as its Head of Heritage and Capital Works Delivery. In this position, she is tasked with the responsibility of caring for Ireland’s most iconic properties and precious collections.

With the national heritage estate in daily public use all year round, OPW’s heritage work programme requires multidisciplinary teams to deliver operations to maintain the portfolio and manage eight million visitors per annum. Simultaneously, through Project Ireland 2040, the OPW is delivering a significant capital works delivery programme totalling approximately €1 billion over the next decade.

Mirrored in the dispersal of the properties under the OPW’s care, ranging from 3,000-year-old national monuments in heritage to modern estates in capital works delivery, the Head of Heritage and Capital Works Delivery role is hugely diverse.

Reflecting upon how heritage defines our placemaking, our sense of wellbeing as citizens, what it means to be Irish, and how Ireland is perceived internationally, Collier observes: “It is a huge privilege to have the opportunity to care for iconic sites such as Oileáin na Scealaga, Newgrange, and the Rock of Cashel, driving the international agenda for inward tourism to Ireland, as well as sustainably defining these sites for future generations.”

Meanwhile, appreciation for Ireland’s natural resources has been reignited, Collier suggests, by the Covid-19 pandemic experience. “When we were limited to a 2km and latterly a 5km radius, people began to engage with their local sites and heritage in a completely different way. People re-engaged with their locale and discovered heritage that they never knew existed,” she says, adding: “Covid has had a transformative impact on how Irish people engage with their national heritage, which has been very exciting for OPW and the work that it undertakes.”

While at the core of the OPW’s priorities, it cannot be defined by its heritage conservation remit alone. Amid organisational change, Collier’s most immediate priority is establishing an optimal internal structure, ensuring that the right people are in the right posts to deliver the OPWs’ capital works pipeline. “There are huge expectations linked to Project Ireland 2040, from within our political systems, among citizens, and among clients,” she acknowledges.

Cognisant of the challenges facing the construction sector in terms of the supply of materials, skills capacity, and cost inflation, however, Collier remains confident that the OPW can deliver its ambitious programme as envisioned.

Currently the sole female board member of the OPW, she emphasises the “very talented female workforce within OPW, ranging from engineers to architects” and insists that “if Covid has taught us one thing, it is that we must be agile and ensure flexibility in how we approach our work”.

T: (046) 942 2000
E: info@opw.ie
W: www.gov.ie/opw