The set for the film 'Michael Collins' built on the grounds of the old Grangegorman Hospital in Dublin will open to the public before it is dismantled.

It took 80 Irish crafts men 17 weeks to build the massive set, the largest ever built for a film in this country. Full sized replicas of the facades of the General Post Office and the Mansion House as they appeared during the period 1916 – 1922, including the Easter Rising and Civil War damage were constructed. Overhead lines tram-tracks and cobble stones were made and put in place to add to the authenticity.

Designed by Oscar nominee Anthony Pratt, the cost of the set came to over £1.5 million. Producer Stephen Woolley says that apart from one derelict building, everything had to be created from scratch entailing a massive expense for a film made in Ireland.

The set will be open to the public for the weekend before the demolition work begins when,

Dublin will again have only one GPO and one Mansion House, the real ones.

An RTÉ News report broadcast on 15 September 1995. The reporter is Colm Connolly.