Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The stories of the Irish State and of Moore Street are very much mirror images of each other. It is often said that the battlefield site is the birthplace of the State. The lanes of Moore Street reverberated with the heroism of 1916 which set in train the events leading to the freedom of this part of the island and the end of hundreds of years of occupation and exploitation. Moore Street was the location of the final stand of the volunteers who fought in the GPO in 1916. Those volunteers came under heavy machine gun fire in the laneways around Moore Street where they set up the last headquarters of the 1916 Provisional Government of the Irish Republic and its final council of war. Moore Street is also home to wonderful architecture with one of the last extant 18th century streetscapes in the city and is populated by a rich culture of traders who are nearly as iconic a part of Dublin's heritage. Those traders have been radically let down by the State, however, and now operate in very difficult conditions.

Moore Street is at the centre of another massive battle which is taking place in Irish society.

Over the past 20 years, it has been ground zero of a legal battle between Celtic tiger developers and those who seek to create a fitting tribute to the men and women of 1916 that educates, informs and inspires future generations of Irish people and visitors to this country. The area has been sterilised by years of legal cases and inaction on the part of successive governments. With the word "inaction" I am being generous to the Government to a certain extent because I believe the Government has been damaging to the future of Moore Street. One of these damaging acts was the Minister's predecessor's decision to appeal the High Court decision that the battlefield site was in fact a national monument. At the time, it was stated that the appeal had nothing to do with Moore Street but rather was about the consequences the decision would have elsewhere. The Government stated it was happy that Moore Street would be a national monument, but those days seem to be over.

The saddest thing about this is that Moore Street is located just off O'Connell Street and ideally located to be the centre of a vibrant historical, cultural and trading quarter. Moore Street is an opportunity that has lain derelict over the past seven to ten years. We need to work towards a situation whereby the commercial interests in the area can operate side by side with a rejuvenated street trading system in order that the relevant buildings and the streetscape can shed the grime of dereliction and be restored to their former character and that the story of the humanity of the Rising can be woven through all this. This is the objective of the forum in which I have been involved in recent years, and it is shocking to see this opportunity not being taken by this Government and it sitting on its hands on the matter.

The term "national monument" means "a monument or the remains of a monument the preservation of which is a matter of national importance by reason of the historical, architectural, traditional, artistic, or archaeological interest attaching thereto". Is anyone in this Chamber stating that Moore Street does not fulfil this definition? If not, why is it that every excuse possible is found not to make this simple decision? The Minister or her predecessor at any stage could have written a statutory order stating these criteria and why it should have been taken. That is all it was necessary to do. We in Sinn Féin have decided to circumvent the Government's inaction on this and simply bring this Bill to the table.

I welcome that the Government has tabled an amendment which recognises the importance of the forum on Moore Street and its recommendations. Our proposal to declare the battlefield site a national monument is perfectly in keeping with this report. The Bill is in no way at odds with the forum report. The report states: "In light of the widespread agreement as to the significance of the area as a battlefield site, the Group believes that the history, character, streetscape and remaining architecture of the area constitute key pillars on which to renew, rebuild and recreate." Where is this missing in the Bill we have produced? I ask the Minister to show where there is any kind of disagreement between the two objectives of the report that she supports and the Bill we bring before the House today. The report also states:

The preservation of the existing lines of the street and the lanes and the restoration of the streetscapes are essential.

The retention of historical structures and of the line and form of the block 10 – 25 Moore Street is also integral to this approach.

The Minister stated her support for this. Again, I call on her to state her support for our Bill. The Bill we are discussing is the objective of the Moore Street campaign. I imagine, therefore, that all the different parties that have been involved in the Moore Street campaign would logically support this Bill.

The Minister mentioned that she supported the outcomes of the forum, but those outcomes were very clear. The forum basically said there would be a framework of consensus on alternative development arrangements within six months of the report. That report was published in March 2017 and that framework is not there. It also stated that planning permission would be lodged with Dublin City Council, DCC. That is not there. In fact, the original planning permission, which would destroy what we have just discussed, is still extant. There were many suggestions in the report as to what can be done to the street, and I call on the Minister to activate those suggestions. There are buildings currently within the gift of the Government. Anyone who has had the chance to walk into buildings Nos. 14 to 17 will be depressed by the current state of them. They are in phenomenal disrepair inside. There is one end of those four buildings where the water is gushing through. The objective of this report, which the Minister supports, could be enacted right now. She could lead a legacy whereby Nos. 14 to 17, which are not in contention anywhere, could be developed to the standard we all seek. Why is this not being done? Why is the Office of Public Works, OPW, the Minister's Department etc. not coming to this decision?

I am disappointed by the role Fianna Fáil is playing in this. When Fianna Fáil was in opposition a number of years ago, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, then a Senator, introduced a Bill on the redevelopment of Moore Street and urged that "what is developed around the Moore Street battlefield site area and the adjacent lanes is conserved and developed appropriately and sensitively given the context of the site". That Bill contained many of the objectives we are discussing here.

The forum is not an excuse for inaction or inertia. Its recommendations are in line with the objectives of this Bill. It will be helped by the Bill because it will ensure that any current commercial interest there would have to be sympathetic to the needs of society. I ask the Minister to hear this because it is important. The current owner of this property is engaging with the forum, and I welcome that, but there is no confidence or surety that that owner will be the owner in two, three, four or five years. In fact, given the history of the site, it is very likely we will have a new owner to deal with in two or three years. The problem is that in two or three years the Minister is also unlikely to be in the position she now holds. She may be elsewhere, there may be another Minister and I foresee that if we do not take these steps today, a dwindling number of street traders will be operating in a disastrous, sterile, derelict environment, the area will still be a blackspot on north inner city Dublin and we will have given nothing to the next generation when it comes to the value and the humanity of 1916. I plead with the Minister to take the opportunity to accept this Bill, which will not cause any damage whatsoever, and leave a legacy behind her.

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