It was owned by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, an agency of the Dublin Castle administration, and intended for use by the Royal College of Science. In June 1921, the Council Room was chosen as the location for the first meeting of the new Parliament of Southern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It proved a fiasco, as only 4 of 128 members of the House of Commons turned up, and 15 of the 64 Senators.