Plans are at an advanced stage to use the popemobile . . .the first purpose-built pontiffcarrier in the world and the prototype for many others . . . to ferry people from O'Connell Street to the National Wax Museum when it re-opens for business next year at its new premises in Smithfield.

After its brief tour of duty when it drove Pope John Paul II through the crowds in the Phoenix Park during the papal visit in 1979, the popemobile was parked in the Wax Museum for more than 20 years until its Granby Place premises closed last September to make way for a new hotel.

Now, the vehicle looks set to play a more active role in promoting the rest of the national wax collection. Businessmen Paddy Dunning and Simon Kelly, who purchased the entire collection from Donie Cassidy five years ago, envisage using the popemobile as an exclusive bus service for their new museum as well as sending it round the country on promotional business.

To this end, the vehicle . . .which was exhibited without wheels in Cassidy's original Wax Museum . . . is currently being reconditioned by Cafco, a specialist firm in north Co Dublin. "It was just a carcass for a very long time, " says Dunning, "so it needs a total fitout to make it roadworthy. But we're bringing it back to its former glory and once it's done there's no limits to what we can do with it."

The rest of the wax collection . . . needing no such refurbishment . . . is currently in storage awaiting its new home.

The 50,000sq ft purpose-built building . . . twice the size of Cassidy's original premises . . .should be ready for occupation some time next year. In addition to the waxworks, the Smithfield site will house a new cultural centre with an emphasis on children. "We're developing this with a view to winning international awards, " says Dunning, whose CV includes a significant portion of the development of Temple Bar.

The centre . . . one of a number of developments in the Smithfield area overseen by the Kelly family . . . is being designed by artist Frankie Morgan, whose CV includes the Special Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Morgan was also responsible for the gigantic rear end of Fionn MacCumhaill which hung over the facade of the original wax museum.

Dunning predicts that the new Smithfield centre will have a significant impact on local business. "Hopefully this will be the start of a whole regeneration in the area.

There'll be day- and night-time activity, with events for kids, for families, for tourists. You can come to it by the Luas or by the popemobile. Imagine saying that a decade ago."