Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

First, I welcome the spirit of the Taoiseach's response to this series of questions and I believe he will acknowledge the previous Government opened up much archival material relating to this period. In the past, the argument had been that there may have been political difficulties or problems with releasing some of that material. However, Fianna Fáil's view, which I believe the Taoiseach will share, is that the State has no business in denying people full access to our founding history. I ask the Taoiseach to explore with the British Government its attitude and approach to some remaining records. At this point, I do not consider that Irish republicans could think any better or worse of the role of the British Government at that time either before or after independence. In essence, there is no contemporary political down-side to releasing this material and I ask the Taoiseach to take up this matter in order that future historians may have full access to all the archives and records both here and in Britain that pertain to the rising in the run-up to its centenary. The fundamental issue with the Irish archives is not the right of access but rather the ability to gain access in person to those archives. Consequently, in the run-up to the centenary there is a strong case for adopting as an objective the digitising of all material relating to the struggle for independence. I ask the Taoiseach to explore this possibility and to take the lead in ensuring this will be the case by the centenary itself.

Finally, with the Ceann Comhairle's indulgence, having walked to and gone through 16 Moore Street with the relatives and so on, someone in government with responsibility for this matter should meet Dublin City Council. What really strikes me is the absence of an overall plan emanating from the city council, which is the planning authority. As the Taoiseach is aware, councils develop local sectoral and area plans and this area begs for and demands an area development plan that is consistent with its history and heritage and that would reflect all that has taken place. Someone must take the initiative with Dublin City Council to get it to begin to develop proper planning processes to ensure the conservation of the history and heritage there in a manner that is accessible to the public and that does justice to what by any standard is a highly significant historic site and location. I repeat that what really strikes me is the absence of any sense of a plan that encapsulates the historic nature of the site.

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