Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the relatives, who succeeded in getting an injunction to prevent any further damage to the national monument and to the site as a whole. It is a debacle that we are here, 15 years after this issue was first highlighted, and there is a threat to a national monument. By national monument I mean not only the small portion of what should be a national monument that has been designated as such so far. For any proper understanding of what happened in Moore Street in the future, we need to understand the context. Deputy O'Sullivan just outlined the Government's intention, namely, to secure a number of buildings in the middle of a street and surrounded by a shopping mall. This would mean the historical context of the buildings is gone, along with the understanding that is gained from it. Anybody who understands history understands that the historical context is nearly as important as the building itself. Unless children, visitors and anybody else coming to Dublin in the future have a full streetscape, including the lanes of history around it they will not fully understand what happened in Moore Street. People can be imaginative and use the whole street as a living museum, if they so wish. That is what I suggest the Government look at and it should designate the whole street and the laneways as a national monument. Even at this late stage, I believe the Minister has that power.

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