Councillor slams Moore Street committee

A LOCAL councillor has criticised the membership of an advisory committee set up by Dublin City Council to tackle the controversial Moore Street site.

Cllr Cieran Perry (Ind), who has campaigned to restore and protect the entire Moore Street terrace where the 1916 rebels surrendered, questioned the council’s selection process for membership of the committee due to the number Labour councillors sitting on it.

He feels the committee’s membership is unbalanced as it comprises three Labour councillors and just one Independent councillor.

“I have been deliberately excluded from this committee,

? claimed Cllr Perry.

“As one of the signatories of the original motion setting up this advisory committee, it is amazing to see membership given to many who have shown no interest in this issue previously, while someone with an active interest in progressing this historical site is excluded

?.

Cllr Perry said both himself and Independent colleague, Cllr Niall Ring, have been at the fore of a campaign to force the council to restore the current state of the heritage site.

However, Cllr Padraig McLoughlin (Lab), who is on the committee, said its membership is simply a reflection of the council’s party leaders.

“This is not an unusual process,

? he stated.

“The group was designated to reflect the council’s overall position. We are looking at different plans for Moore Street as there are so many conflicting views. We are hoping to balance preservation with some sort of development in the surrounding site.

?

In 2007, numbers 14-17 Moore Street were designated a national monument due to their links with the rising. Number 16 was the headquarters of the insurgents.

However, councillors and relatives of those involved in the 1916 Rising want the site of the national monument to be extended to the whole 100-yard Moore Street terrace, including numbers 10 to 25.

Relatives of the leaders of the 1916 Rising believe a large commercial development scheme planned for the area could potentially undermine the structure of the entire terrace on Moore Street where the buildings are located.