Mr. James Connolly Heron:

That is fine, Chairman. The claim that our members are somehow falsely claiming to represent the views of the campaign committee is a scandalous falsehood and should be withdrawn and removed from the record with immediate effect. I trust that the joint Oireachtas committee is in possession of the letter of rebuttal that I felt obliged to send in defence of their, and my, reputation as a voluntary, unpaid and unrewarded participant in an honourable, responsible campaign to date.

As an elected officer of the Save 16 Moore Street Committee I am charged with the responsibility of recording its deliberations. The record shows that the agreed founding aim of the committee was to protect the standing and integrity of No. 16 Moore Street in its entirety as the focal point of a 1916 historical cultural quarter. The record shows that this has always been the case and that this remains the central aim of the committee to this day.

The holder of the highest office in the land, an t-Uachtaráin, Michael D. Higgins, on walking the 1916 battlefield with relatives of the 1916 leaders during the presidential campaign said, “This area belongs to no individual group or political party. It belongs to the people.” The recent announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, that control of planning cannot be left in the hands of elected representatives in light of the disclosure of corruption in the planning decision process makes sense until one examines the decisions taken concerning the proposed development of the Carlton site. The recent TG4 documentary by Dónall Ó Maolfabhail on the, to put it mildly, chequered history of the site demands a response from some quarter in defence of a city under siege apparently from our own publicly funded city planners. Any modest residents’ association records minutes of meetings. The startling disclosure by a city official that our city authority does not hold a written record of all meetings on the future development of the heart of our capital city is beyond belief. Other Carlton site pre-planning meetings also took place with officials in the very Department charged with the protection of our heritage. Can we assume that they kept the minutes of those meetings? They should make interesting reading. Is there contained within a record any official in the Department expressing the slightest concern at a developer’s proposal to arbitrarily redraw the boundary of a national monument in his own commercial interest? If not, why not? After all, this is the very Department charged with the guardianship of our heritage.

The apparent secrecy surrounding this proposed development of our city centre must now end. It continues today with the astonishing absence of Chartered Land. That elected city councillors were unaware of a contract drawn up in their name should be a matter of the gravest concern. Was any other official in a Department aware of the contract drawn up in secrecy behind closed doors during the course of preplanning discussions? There has been surprisingly little response to what has been rightly described in the Dáil by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald as a scandal. This is not a planning application for a new kitchen extension in a suburban home; this is an application to invade and build on, over and under the protected area of a national monument designated in honour of the men and women of 1916. This is the highest form of protection the State can bestow on a building or structure. Put simply, we expect the State to honour that designation. A national monument by its designation belongs to the people.

There has been a shocking lack of vision on the part of those charged with the protection of the city culture, history and heritage over a long period, and a lack of consultation with those most affected, namely, its citizens. There has been an abject failure on the part of State agencies, public officials and those charged with protecting our most recent history and heritage to protect the very heart of this city, the GPO-Henry Street-Moore Street area. The area includes the 1916 battlefield site. The Easter Rising was the only land engagement of any size fought in Britain and Ireland in the 20th century. All buildings that bear witness to and form part of a battle are historic. The difference between a battle that is written about and taught to our children and one that is largely forgotten can be summed up in one word – preservation.