Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to support this Bill which has been framed and moved by our colleague, an Teachta Éamon Ó Cuív. The establishment of a Temple Bar-style company to create an develop a fitting historic quarter is a very sensible one. After all, the birth of our Republic has deep roots in the Moore Street area of Dublin. It is estimated that as many as 300 volunteers and members of Cumman na mBan escaped to the buildings from the GPO when it caught fire and was attacked by the garrison forces in the city at the time. We can safely state that future generations will not thank us if Moore Street is not properly preserved.

We need the structure and the legal empowerment of an agency with the responsibility to acquire properties and initiate the developments that would be appropriate for what will become, in those circumstances, a very important and historic part of the city of Dublin. It will become a focal point for tourists, tour groups and historians who wish to take historic tours in the country. Given the obvious publicity attending the various commemorations that have been organised around the country in the lead-in to Easter 2016, there will be an intensification of focus and interest in it.

As Deputy Brendan Smith mentioned, as part of the 1916 commemorations and the lead-in to 2016, we have been organising various lectures across the north east in places like Carrickmacross, Newry, Dundalk, Drogheda, Ardee and Dunleer. What has struck me is the huge public interest and the attendances at these lectures. Bearing in mind the five or six that have been held to date, we might expect that maintaining momentum and interest would be challenging, but it is growing with the passage of time.

The first lecture was held in Ardee and we had the honour and pleasure of the presence of the great-grand-niece of Eamonn Ceannt, who attended school in the town of Ardee. He was born in Ballymoe in County Galway and his father was an RIC officer who was posted on promotion first to Drogheda and then to Ardee. He attended school in Ardee and the people of the town and locality are particularly proud of the fact a signatory of the Proclamation served mass and attended school in the town. There was an overflow attendance at that lecture. Indeed, the lady in question, Ms Mary Gallagher, will be returning to Ardee. It is believed Eamonn Ceannt spent a period of time at school in Drogheda as well, so it is an opportunity for the people of the north east, particularly the people of the two towns of Ardee and Drogheda, to commemorate the fact a signatory of the Proclamation had his formative years in the county.

If anybody has the opportunity to read a profile of the man, they could not but be struck by his academic and intellectual capacity. It was measure of the type of individuals who were involved with the Rising. They could think strategically, they had a vision for the future of the country and, more importantly, they had the absolute commitment to implement the plan and see it through. It is people like Eamonn Ceannt and the many others involved in the Rising who have done so much to lay the foundations of the Republic we have today.

It is with pleasure that I support the Bill moved by Deputy Ó Cuív. I appeal to the Government to give very serious consideration to the proposals contained therein and to accede to the request of a great number of people in the country at this time.

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