philip r lane : inauguration of ireland's central bank dockland campus speech by mr philip r lane, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the inauguration of the dockland campus, dublin, 24 april 2017. * * * minister, former governor honohan, distinguished guests, i am delighted to welcome you to the inauguration of the central bank of ireland ’ s dockland campus. today marks an important step for the future of the central bank, as we adapt to fulfil our increasingly complex mandate in a more interconnected and challenging global environment. there is also a nice parallel with the past. in 1927, when deciding on the first permanent premises of the currency commission – the precursor to the central bank – members of the commission emphasised the importance of placing it in close proximity to the shareholding banks, and foster place was chosen. 1 in the same vein, our dockland campus, incorporating north wall quay and spencer dock, again places us firmly at the centre of ireland ’ s international financial district. 2 * * * the central bank is a vital institution of the state. when the currency commission was dissolved in 1943, the central bank was established with an enhanced role, the most important of which was “ safeguarding the integrity of the currency ” and, echoing a phrase from article 45 of the constitution, ensuring that “ in what pertains to the control of credit, the constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a whole ”. 3 in the years since its establishment, both the domestic mandate of the central bank and our european roles have expanded. our european role is critically important and the bank is recognised as a strong contributor to the work of the european system of central banks and european system of financial supervision. but while our mandate has expanded and our staff has doubled in recent years, what has not changed is our core mission of protecting the public interest, and public service is central to the ethos and culture of the bank. the fact that this site was originally intended to host the new headquarters for anglo - irish bank has invited much commentary. in one sense, history is again repeating itself. foster place was leased in perpetuity from bank of ireland. commercial buildings on dame street – as the name suggests – was formerly occupied by members of the chamber of commerce, the stock exchange, merchants ’ offices and brokers. my own view is that this juxtaposition is quite fitting in serving as an ongoing reminder of the severe economic and social

the building you will see visual representations of crann an oir, which remains the symbol of the bank. the realised design you see today is also a testament to the commitment of our design team, led by our architect peter mcgovern of hj lyons, and to our main contractor, walls construction, who in turn worked with many suppliers and craftspeople to design, construct and deliver the new headquarters. the list of people to thank is too numerous to mention, but the outcome of your efforts is very clear. the team fully embraced the bank ’ s vision for the premises and this building can take pride of place here on the river front, which already is home to so many distinguished city landmarks. i am also pleased that we are joined today by members of dublin city council, our neighbours from the docklands area, the winners of our national schools competition generation €uro 2017, and local schoolchildren who have engaged with the central bank through a number of initiatives including the early learning initiative. the new building will facilitate our ongoing commitment to our outreach and community programmes, both to our new local community and in the broader national community. the new building is the first office building in ireland to achieve the building research establishment ’ s environmental assessment method ( breeam ) ‘ outstanding ’ rating at design stage. the building energy rating ( ber ) is targeted at a2, and will be one of the first commercial projects in the state to achieve such a rating. as an employer, we value our work as a knowledge - based, transparent public service organisation, offering a variety of career choices. recognising the importance of knowledge in the central bank, the top floor is dedicated to learning with a new staff library and a learning and 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches development centre, while our public space here on the ground floor encompasses a visitor centre and a new archive facility open to the public. i hope you have had a moment to move through our visitor centre, which will enable us to meet with the public, explain what we do and why we do it. our two opening exhibitions are complementary. the first is the euro exhibition, which was created by the european central bank. this examines the development of euro currency and includes sections on euro banknotes and their security features, euro coinage and the history of money. to bring a uniquely irish focus, we also have created another exhibition, celebrating the 90th anniversary of the currency commission, which i mentioned earlier. these exhibitions are part of