THE Save Number 16 Moore Street campaign got welcome support from the Taoiseach and local councillors during the recent anniversary of the Easter Rising.
Number 16 was the final headquarters for the Rising’s rebels such as James Connolly, Padraic Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Thomas Clarke and Sean MacDiarmada before they were captured and later executed.
The vow of support to protect the property as an educational and historical centre coincided with the anniversary of the Easter Rising.
Earlier this month Dublin City Councillors passed a motion calling on Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan to refuse to consent to a controversial application for development works on the national monument site from 14 to17 Moore Street.
The motion also called on the minister to take immediate steps to
“honour his undertaking to preserve the monument under Preservation Order No.1 of 2007, adopted by both houses of the Oireachtas.
?
The motion, which was passed by 31 votes to three, followed a positive meeting of the Save 16 Moore Street Committee with the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht.
Dublin City councillors have requested that Minister Deenihan commission an independent assessment of the site by suitably qualified ‘battlefield site’ experts to confirm as to whether or not it can be designated as such a site.
Campaigners have been fighting for years to have the entire terrace of 14 to 17 Moore Street designated a national monument and protected from development.
According to North Inner City ward councillor Nial Ring (Ind), the campaign garnered even more support and gathered more pace during this month’s annual commemoration ceremony, which was held at the GPO and attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
“I got an opportunity to speak with the Taoiseach at the reception in the GPO after the commemoration ceremony
? Cllr Ring said.
“The Taoiseach, who described the area as the
‘laneways of history’, agreed that this part of our history must be preserved and I informed him that I would forward an updated briefing document directly to him.
?
Cllr Ring said the recent support at local and national level gives real hope that by the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016,
“we could have a development reflecting our modern city but recognising the importance of Moore Street’s role in our history and heritage
?.