September 15, 2012

Numbers 14 to 17 Moore St. – the place where the Republican forces made their last stand before they surrendered at the end of Easter Week 1916 – are in a disgraceful state. Even though this block of buildings has been declared a National Monument it is still under threat either from total dereliction or demolition to make way for a shopping centre.

Sinn Féin has long argued for the creation of an historical Quarter – a 1916 Revolutionary Quarter – in the part of the city taking in the GPO, Henry St. and Moore St. and the surrounding area. The Government needs to move on from the totally ill-conceived plan for a massive shopping centre has no place in the city centre and certainly no place in Moore St.

The Minister Jimmy Deenihan has the power to prevent the demolition of the site. He  needs to do this. In a recent debate on a Sinn Fein motion in the Dáil called on the Minister to intervene and stressed the importance of the 1916 rising in Irish history and the importance of preserving the site for future generations.

“The 1916 Rising encapsulates a very important part of my Irishness. I am lucky in having a very real link to these great people as a grandson of two veterans who fought that noble fight. I will never forget the stories that struck me as a child and remain with me. Young people today do not have this great resource.”

The dereliction of this National Monument is a disgrace. What state is it going to be in by 2016 if nothing is done? We believe that if the State and the City Council invest in this area they will get a return many times that investment in terms of tourism development in the area.

the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016.

Dessie Ellis T.D and Cllr Anthony Connaghan are of the opinion that successive Governments

have tried to ignore the connection the men and women of 1916 had with the foundation of

the State. All 3 of the main establishment parties claim connection to 1916 but choose to do nothing about one of the most famous of all our historical sites where Padraig Pearse signed the surrender “in order to prevent further slaughter of the civil population”. What are the Government afraid of? That maybe people might look into this period more thoroughly and possibly read the Proclamation

and see what the valiant Men and Women died for?

“The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.”Is the Government living up to the expectations of the Seven Signatories of the Proclamation or the thousands more who sacriced so much for Ireland? When you think of what is happening to the country at the moment can the Government honestly think when they read the Irish Proclamation?

”Cllr Anthony Connaghan would like to highly recommend the ‘Dublin 1916 Rebel

Walking Tour’ which runs from the Sinn Féin bookshop on Parnell Square

from Tuesdays to Saturdays at 11:30am.