Acknowledgements

afar. But so many of us have an intimacy with the building without really knowing what it looks like.

This is not just my view. The entry on Busáras in the architectural history of Dublin, More Than Concrete Blocks, tells its readers that ‘Many Dubliners walk past it, avoiding it, never looking up and pointedly not engaging with it.’1

Part of the reason is its location. It is nestled on a small island between Store Street and Amiens Street. No matter which way you approach it, the building is obscured – hidden almost – despite its imposing frame. From Liberty Hall, the overground Loop Line rail track cuts off your line of sight. From Talbot Bridge, Busáras competes with the Custom House and the International Financial Services Centre for your attention. From Connolly Station, Georgian decay obscures your view.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the area was bleak and desolate, with little reason to linger. As the Docklands developed, Amiens Street became the boundary between the older, less developed and less populated transport hub of Connolly Station and Busáras, and the emerging high-density, high-income community of the north quays.

Then there’s the traffic – Luas, bus and car – forming a moving metal barrier as precarious pedestrian crossings divert your eyes downwards to the road as you rush to catch the last bus to wherever.

But I can’t help thinking there is something else at play. Something to do with the relationship between the building itself and the public. Something that can only be fully understood if you know the history of the building. The story of how its original intentions and functions were subverted during the course of its construction, fundamentally changing the relationship between the bus station and the people.

I suspect that, for the majority of people, Busáras is considered a run-down, ugly building to be used rather than enjoyed. But there is a small group of admirers, the present author included, for whom the building is so much more.

Can you imagine Busáras on a Board Fáilte poster or tourist postcard? Yet this is exactly where the building should be, and indeed once was. Despite our persistent refusal to see it, Busáras is Ireland’s