The John F. Kennedy Memorial Concert Hall

1963

The assassination ten years ago of President John F. Kennedy had repercussions which are still affecting the Irish musical world.

Brian Grimson, Honorary Secretary of the Music Association of Ireland, 23 January 1973.

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which occurred five months after his visit to Ireland, the Department of the Taoiseach decided to erect a State memorial to commemorate the late American President. In December 1963, the Department wrote to the Arts Council seeking their advice as to the form of the memorial.

On the 2 of January 1964, the Arts Council responded with the following advice: ‘The most suitable form which a State memorial should take, would be a concert and assembly hall in the city of Dublin, named after the late President’.

An Inter-party Committee

On the 17 January 1964, the Government released an official statement accepting the recommendation and announcing the establishment of ‘a Committee comprising members of the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour parties to consider the legislative and other arrangements to implement the proposal’. The announcement was followed by a sense of great expectation in the music world and tributes were paid to the Arts Council for their recommendation. However, after such a promising start, the implementation of the advice dissolved into a ten-year saga.

Given that the project is one of the most important to be undertaken in this century in Ireland and will focus not merely the attention of our people at home but also that of the American people, and indeed, in a certain measure that of the world, we feel that your Committee will be glad of any assistance that such a state-sponsored body as the Arts Council can give.

Fr Donal O’Sullivan, Director, Arts Council to Dr James Ryan, Chairman of the Inter-party Committee on the John F Kenndy Memorial, 30 May 1964.

Despite the Council remaining committed to cooperating with the Inter-Party Committee ‘in any way they can in an undertaking of such immense national and international importance’, no further requests for advice were submitted again to the Council. Time slipped by with no tangible sign of progress on the building of the National Concert Hall.

Proceeding satisfactorily

With articles in the press from early 1967 reporting that Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy would visit Ireland in May 1968 to open the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Park in Wexford, a fresh enquiry from the Council about the present state of the project led to the following answer from the Inter-Party Committee: ‘The present position in regard to the Hall is that the work on the planning is proceeding satisfactorily. It is not possible at this stage to say when construction is likely to commence. ‘Representations regarding the suitability of the Haddington Road site for the proposed Concert Hall were submitted to the Committee in October 1967 but remained fruitless.

Under consideration

In March 1971, a request addressed to the Taoiseach regarding a deputation from the Council to discuss the implementation of the project was redirected to the Department of Finance ‘as the most appropriate course for the Council’, but no progress was made. In March 1974, the Council inquired to the Government Information Services regarding the proposed Concert Hall and was told: ‘the proposed Concert Hall to commemorate the late John F. Kennedy is still under consideration’.

An alternative memorial

The following month, the whole matter was to take an unexpected turn: at a press conference on the 9 May 1974, Mr Ritchie Ryan, TD, Minister for Finance announced ‘that the Great Hall at the UCD buildings in Earlsfort Terrace, which was successfully used for concert and music in the days of the Royal University should be developed for use as a public concert hall’…’The Government are actively considering an alternative memorial to the late President and an announcement on the matter will shortly be made.’

The Arts Council issued a press release expressing regret about the outcome.

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Letter from the Secretary of the Department of the Taoiseach to the Secretary of the Arts Council.

3 December 1963