Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, on bringing forward the Bill. It is the product of a long campaign by those concerned with our cultural and revolutionary heritage. The management and development of our heritage, culture and history cannot be left in the hands of private developers. To do so would be a catastrophe and, above all, a terrible indictment of how the State has failed to value that history. The Bill offers an opportunity to preserve the built heritage and create a truly cultural quarter where the leaders of the 1916 Rising fought, while also allowing for an economic boost, tourism and development that includes the community.

The Bill also provides a model for the preservation of other cultural areas and not just those in Dublin. Although most, if not all, of the Rising was concentrated in Dublin city centre, the events that followed were fought in cities, towns, villages and farmland across the State. I refer to my constituency of Longford-Westmeath. Longford was the most active county in Leinster, apart from Dublin, during the War of Independence, while volunteers in Westmeath acted in the most heavily militarised area in Ireland in terms of its proportion of population. The now-closed Columb Barracks in Mullingar could act as a hub for a similar development, given its history and location in the town. What is important is that these developments preserve the history of the region and are community-driven. Developments of the infrastructure could be undertaken in tandem with community wealth creation schemes and would create local jobs as well as providing national and local educational opportunities.

It is important to remember that we should commemorate all aspects of this revolutionary heritage. It was a time of profound struggle for suffrage, industrial labour rights, land reform and cultural, linguistic and literary revival. All of these movements shaped the Ireland that we know today and the movement for independence overlapped with them.

Many have been forgotten; more have been ignored. It is important that regeneration of our historical areas commemorate and recognise the totality of those events during these revolutionary times.

Moore Street must be preserved and there must be a viable future for it. This Bill would ensure that. This should be the start of a new policy direction which values our heritage and history, rather than continuing to ignore it.

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