Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this Bill. I know he has a deep passion for, and interest in, the future of Moore Street and the surrounding part of Dublin central, as we all do. I have listened carefully to what he has said. I share with him the same sense of the seminal importance of the 1916 Rising, its central place in the history of our State and of the importance of commemorating it and preserving the traces and memories that remain of the events that occurred at that time and of the men, women and children who were involved. I certainly felt a sense of place and poignancy as I stood in 14-17 Moore Street. It is an important place in our history.

None of this is lost on the Government which I believe can look back with justifiable pride and satisfaction at the wonderfully successful and highly inspirational programme of commemorative events that took place throughout 2016. That programme drew in communities from every corner of the country in unprecedented numbers to pay respectful tribute to the 1916 leaders and to the sacrifices they made on our behalf to gain for us our independence and right to self-determination.

Before I get into the detail of the Bill, I want to address briefly the suggestion that it is similar to an earlier Bill brought to the Seanad by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, in 2015. The reality is that we are in an entirely different situation now compared to the one extant in Moore Street at that time. In 2015, plans to have the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street procured by Dublin City Council had fallen through and, with them, any prospect of the buildings being restored. The site surrounding the national monument was in the control of NAMA. There was also planning permission in place for an enclosed shopping arcade that could have led to significant architectural and structural interventions into the legibility of what remained of the Moore Street streetscape. If that development did not go ahead, the alternative was further urban decay, accompanied by increased anti-social behaviour. Furthermore, in 2015 what was in prospect was an inexorable loss of the history and heritage of the street along with its centuries old street trading traditions.

We are, however, in a much better space now. The national monument is owned by the State. It has been weathered and secured structurally, and there are plans to progress with the 1916 commemorative centre project. Funding is in place for that, on which I will comment further later.

The surrounding site has been acquired by a development company, which is engaging meaningfully with the Moore Street advisory group of which I will also say more anon. The development company has also unveiled the plans for its site which are very different in character from what was previously envisaged. It is soon to apply for planning permission for a mixed use development comprising family housing, retail and office units, along with public squares and open spaces. There will be extensive commemorative elements to show and pay tribute to the events and people of 1916 and a whole range of buildings previously in danger will be retained and restored.

With regard to the Bill introduced this morning, the Government fully appreciates the constructive motivation that brought it about and for that reason I will not be opposing it on Second Stage. Instead, I will be advocating that it should go to the relevant Oireachtas committee for further scrutiny and to examine what are evident drafting and legal issues; and to do so against the background of the imminent report of the Moore Street advisory group which is due to report to me shortly. I will clarify as I go along the importance of the report to the question of whether there is a case for the Bill to progress further.

No. 16 Moore Street is where the decision to surrender was made by the leaders of the 1916 Rising. Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street were declared a national monument in 2007 as the most authentic, complete and coherent collection of surviving pre-1916 buildings on Moore Street that have clear associations to the Rising. Each of the buildings has extensive original features, including plasterwork, partitions, staircases, doors, floors, fittings and fixtures. The 18th century building form and profiles also survive. Most significantly, there is also the evidence of the presence of the insurgents themselves in the form of the passageways they burrowed through from building to building during the final phase of the Rising. I had the privilege to see them myself.

Earlier proposals to secure the restoration of the national monument through a combination of funding from NAMA and a property exchange between Dublin City Council and the developer within the surrounding Dublin central development site did not materialise. The monument buildings were then acquired by the State from NAMA with a view to having them at least partially open to the public in time for the centenary of the Rising. Unfortunately, that was not possible due to the project being interrupted by protests and ultimately by a High Court judgment, which effectively stopped all works apart from essential preservation and stabilisation measures. That judgment was later overturned in its entirety by the Court of Appeal.

All this culminated in the establishment of the Moore Street advisory group which is now working and making progress on finding answers to the future regeneration of the Moore Street area in a way that reflects its history and culture and, most importantly, the events that played out there in the closing stages of the Rising. The Moore Street advisory group was established by the then Minister in May 2017 and its current membership includes Deputy Snodaigh, who is promoting this Bill, and Deputies Hourigan, Gannon and Bríd Smith. It also includes 1916 relatives' groups, city councillors and street traders. Its role is to represent and work with all stakeholders, including the owners of the site surrounding the State-owned national monument at Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street. The idea is to broker regeneration solutions that can be supported by all concerned, solutions that will properly respect its part in the 1916 Rising, retain the traces that remain of those events and ensure that its street market tradition continues to have pride of place in a part of Dublin that is crying out for regeneration.

I have met the chair of the advisory group, Dr. Tom Collins, to whom the owners of the site that is largely encompassed by this Bill have recently presented their latest plans. I understand that the plans are seen as a welcome step change on what was previously in prospect and that they respond positively to the recommendations of the advisory group's previous report to the Minister in August 2019. I also understand that the developer has appointed a prestigious design team with international experience to draw up and finalise detailed development proposals for which planning permission will be sought in the near future. I should also mention that Transport Infrastructure Ireland has recently come into the picture and is working with the site owner to integrate the construction of an underground MetroLink station on Upper O'Connell Street that will connect Dublin Airport into the development. What is now being proposed will retain a greatly expanded range of buildings associated with the Rising, seek to facilitate and guarantee the future of the street traders, appropriately remember and commemorate the events of Easter 1916, provide almost 100 new residential units, build a new metro station and create more than 9,000 jobs. What is particularly welcome is the commitment to retain the fabric of a large number of buildings with historical significance, such as Conway's public house, Nos. 8 to 10 Moore Street, Nos. 20 and 21 Moore Street, O'Brien's Stables, O'Brien's Bottling Stores, and the potential artistic use of the White House site, along with a re-imagining of 10 Henry Place as a potential gallery.

In any context the prospect of all these jobs must be welcomed by all, but especially in the context of the economic and social challenges in the north inner city.

Once the report of the Moore Street advisory group is to hand, it can be reviewed alongside the Bill by the relevant committee, which is the Joint Committee for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The committee will also examine any potential policy, legal and financial issues contained in the Bill. These include the reliance on the judgment in the High Court case in 2016, which was later overturned. There are further issues, such as section 3 which obliges me, as Minister, to issue preservation orders over properties in the area because the Moore Street battlefield area is a national monument of extreme importance to the State. There is no provision in the National Monuments Acts for a preservation order to be issued for this reason. I will be asking the committee to thoroughly examine the Bill for those sort of instances and indeed to assess the extent to which there is justification for the Bill to advance further in light of what emerges from the Moore Street advisory group's report.

Deputies will be aware that, as I have previously mentioned, the national monument at Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street is now in the ownership of the Minister. Plans are well under way to ensure that the monument be refurbished as soon as possible. My Department was delighted to recently be in a position to announce funding of €121.3 million for Dublin’s north inner city under the urban regeneration and development fund. This significant investment will support the regeneration and redevelopment of several areas that have suffered from dereliction and decline over a long number of years.

It also includes the Moore Street national monument, which is earmarked for grant aid amounting to €12.7 million. This is a generational opportunity to protect the national monument and open it up to the public to resonate the mercantile, social and political heritage of the area as a 1916 commemorative quarter. Officials in my Department are in ongoing liaison with the OPW with a view to moving forward with the project, and I hope to see works commencing on this very soon.

In summary, and to finish, the Government intends not to oppose this Bill on Second Stage, on the grounds that, in line with Standing Order 95, it will be subject to scrutiny on financial, legal and policy matters by the Joint Committee for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Officials from my Department will be available to liaise with the committee throughout this process on issues associated with the Bill and also to appraise the committee of developments in regard to the Moore Street advisory group and its upcoming report to the Minister.

Indeed, should the recommendations of the advisory group chart a clear path for progress on the regeneration of the Moore Street area that enjoys the overall support of its membership, then it may very well be the case that Deputy Ó Snodaigh and his party will find it unnecessary for the Bill to progress any further.

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