Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I rightfully expected the Government’s response in the amendment to this Private Members' motion to be the same dismissive smokescreen which has been thrown up whenever the future of the GPO and our historic buildings on Moore Street where the leaders of 1916 made their last stand is raised. However, let us be clear: this Private Members' motion is only in response to the Taoiseach’s statements. His plan to turn the GPO into a mixed-use development and Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry Independent group will support that plan and desecrate the GPO. It will not be the first time that it has done the unthinkable and bulldozed our historical sites or not pursued developers who knocked down historical buildings in a dawn raid.

The O'Rahilly house at 40 Herbert Park in Ballsbridge was knocked down despite Dublin City Council councillors voting unanimously to support a motion by Sinn Féin councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha to add the building to the list of protected structures. That is one example in Dublin.

In my home town, Drogheda, Drogheda Grammar School, which was over 250 years old and protected by a High Court order and a ruling of An Bord Pleanála, was demolished in the early hours of the morning. For those who think that a Government, including the Government parties currently in power, would not tear the heart out of such a historic site need only remember the destruction of the Viking settlement at Wood Quay to make way for new civic offices despite tens of thousands of citizens marching against the plan and years of legal challenges. The protesters at Wood Quay included the late great poet Thomas Kinsella, who told the crowd that this was the birthplace of our own city, but it was still bulldozed. The Government is now moving to tear the heart out of the birthplace of our Republic.

Dublin city centre does not need more offices and shops. There is a vacancy rate of almost 20% at present and empty retail units on every street. What O'Connell Street, the GPO, Moore Street and all of Dublin city centre needs is what the motion calls on the Government to do. Among the points we are raising is to ensure the GPO remains in full public ownership and control and that no part of it is made available for private commercial profit. Moore Street in its entirety, including the terrace comprising 10-25 Moore Street, should be conserved and sensitively developed as a cultural historic quarter, cherishing its 1916 Rising heritage and street trading tradition in line with the vision of the Moore Street Preservation Trust.

This, combined with the GPO and a 1916 cultural quarter, would honour our past, preserve it for the future and give our capital city a place that Dubliners and every Irish person could be proud of, a place where visitors would want to visit and a place worthy of its history. I am not a Dubliner by any means, but I am a proud Irish woman and like many others I am proud of our history and heritage and am outraged by the Government's blatant betrayal of our rebel history. I ask that the Government not repeat the mistakes of Wood Quay, and instead supports the motion as it is and stands up and be counted for our history that makes us proud to be Irish.

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