A new visitor centre at Kilmainham Courthouse in Dublin has officially opened.

The new facilities include a café and welfare facilities, a bookshop, as well as historic interpretation and displays relating to the building.

The new building will allow the Office of Public Works (OPW), who manage the Gaol site, to offer a much improved level of service to the approximately 330,000 visitors who come to the site every year.

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The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, said: "As the site of the executions of fourteen leaders of the 1916 Rising, Kilmainham Gaol is a very evocative location, and a building of great significance to the Irish nation. These new facilities will greatly enhance the visitor experience at what is already one of Dublin's top tourist attractions.

"Kilmainham Gaol is one of the nine key 'Permanent Reminders' being developed at historically significant locations as part of the Government’s Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, which also include Pearse’s Cottage in Ros Muc and the major new visitor attraction at the GPO, which was opened last week. These projects represent significant Government investment in our culture and heritage, ensuring that the 2016 commemorations leave a positive and lasting legacy."

(CD/MH)