Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes:

— the sacrifice of the men and women of 1916, who fought and died in the General Post Office (GPO), Moore Street, across Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland, so Ireland may be free;

— the status of the GPO as a national monument, the headquarters of the 1916 Easter Rising, and the place where the Irish Republic was proclaimed on Easter Monday, 24th April, 1916, and defended in arms in the following days;

— the central role of the GPO in delivering postal services to the people of Dublin for over two hundred years, since it opened in 1818, as an early home from 1928 of 2RN, which pioneered broadcast media in Ireland and evolved into RTÉ, and as the historic heart of a communications network connecting communities across the nation; and

— the consistent, widespread and negligent destruction of Ireland's republican revolutionary history presided over by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments;

expresses:

— dismay at the failure to deliver the promised 1916 Commemorative Centre at 14-17 Moore Street, nine years after it was meant to open for the centenary of the Easter Rising; and

— alarm at the plans announced by An Taoiseach Micheál Martin this past week, to turn part of the GPO into retail and office components;

agrees that any plan involving the GPO must include the entire 1916 battlefield site, of which it forms a part, and that therefore, Ministerial consent must not be given to the current plan by the private developer Hammerson, which would demolish much of the Moore Street 1916 battlefield site around the National Monument 14-17 Moore Street, and the promised 1916 Commemorative Centre at 14-17 Moore Street must proceed without further delay; and

calls on the Government to ensure that:

— the GPO remains in full public ownership and control, and that no part of it be made available for private commercial profit;

— the GPO continues as a public office of An Post, a function it has fulfilled since its construction, and its reconstruction following the 1916 Rising, and which it still fulfils successfully today, enhancing O'Connell Street and the North Inner City;

— Moore Street in its entirety, including the terrace at 10-25 Moore Street, should be conserved, and sensitively developed as a cultural historic quarter, cherishing its 1916 Rising heritage and its street-trading tradition, in line with the vision of the Moore Street Preservation Trust;

— no more of Ireland's republican heritage is allowed be subject to wanton destruction for private profit, and that the full heritage and cultural potential is honoured and realised; and

— the Ceathrú Chultúir 1916 Bill 2021, is enacted without delay.

The people of Ireland are rightly proud of Ireland’s rebel history, ach go háirithe anseo i mBaile Átha Cliath, where despite the odds, the brave republican forces took on one of the most, if not the most, powerful military force at the time, and struck a blow for freedom.

The GPO is the most iconic site of Ireland’s fight for freedom. It is where Pádraig Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic aloud at Easter 1916. It was therefore understandable that there was public outcry last week when the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, announced his intention for a redeveloped GPO to include “first-class retail and office components”. Another clanger from Micheál Martin’s pocket, the man who has backed the destruction of Sráid an Mhúraigh, Moore Street, and whose Government colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, only last week said the naming of the new children’s hospital in honour of the most senior-ranked woman of the 1916 Rising, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, who founded the first children’s hospital, was "too complicated". Of course, Fine Gael will back Martin's commercialisation of the GPO, given that it wanted the people of Ireland to commemorate the Black and Tans.

Mar a dúirt Pádraig Mac Piarais ina dán "Mise Éire", "Mór mó náir: mo chlann féin a dhíol a máthair". Ba dheis an rún seo don Rialtas seasamh linn agus deimhniú "that no part of (the GPO) be made available for private commercial profit", ach in ionad sin tá an Rialtas ag iarraidh na focail sin a scriosadh.

Clambering around to find a rock to hide under Government TDs have tried to say that Sinn Féin would shut down shops nearby and around the GPO. Nothing could be further from the truth. We want to revitalise the area and bring people into this part of the city. We want the shops on Henry Street and GPO arcade to thrive. We want an end to the State-supported dereliction of the Moore Street battlefield site and the southside of upper O'Connell Street. We want to ensure no part of the General Post Office where the Irish Republic was proclaimed on Easter Monday 1916 is turned into shops and offices for private profit.

Sinn Féin's motion calls on Government to ensure that no more of Ireland's republican heritage is subject to wanton destruction for private profit and that the full heritage and cultural potential is honoured and realised. The Government’s countermotion wants to delete that.

It also wants to delete "the status of the GPO as a national monument defended in arms" and "the sacrifice of the men and women of 1916, who fought and died in the GPO, Moore Street, across Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland, so that Ireland may be free". As usual this Government wants to delete, delete, delete. Frascati House, home of Edward FitzGerald was demolished for a shopping centre in 1983. Nos. 124 and 125 Stephen's Green West, home of Robert Emmet, was demolished for an office block in the 1980s. No. 40 Herbert Park, home of The O'Rahilly, was demolished in a dawn raid for luxury apartments in 2020. The historic Moore Street terrace where the leaders of 1916 made their last stand after evacuating the GPO is left to rack and ruin, rotting under an accumulation of tacky phone repair shops and dereliction, with a green light from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to an English property developer, Hammerson, to demolish part of the historic battle site to build guess what? Another shopping centre. It is a case of delete, delete, delete.

What of the paltry 1916 commemorative centre that was supposed to appear at 14-17 Moore Street to open in 2016 as part of the centenary events? We are still waiting. If that is the timescale for what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael consider “accelerated delivery”, will any of us live to see the planned new museum in the GPO?

The Government’s amendment describes their “accelerated delivery ... to drive urban regeneration” in Dublin. That will surely come as a slap in the face to those communities who have waited 15 years, and much more in many cases, for regeneration of their decrepit and unsafe flat complexes, considering this Government is now withholding funding for those essential repairs.

The betrayal of the GPO and Moore Street is symbolic of the betrayal of the ideals of 1916. We will not stand for this betrayal. Was it for a Starbucks that all the blood was shed? Or for Carroll’s Irish Gifts, no harm to them?

No other country that fought for its freedom would have a government that is so blatantly desecrating its hallowed ground, choosing the profits of private developers over the memories of those who gave everything for Ireland. Ireland’s revolutionary history is an asset to be cherished, protected and enhanced as a driver of regeneration. In any other city in the world, we would see visionary, ambitious plans to develop the GPO and the surrounding areas, preserving our rebel history with a national museum, arts and culture, education, tourism and homes to make it a living, breathing space.

I have set out in my Ceathrú Cultúir 1916 Bill what a cultural historic quarter could look like, preserving the Moore Street battlefield site in its entirety and implementing the masterplan of the Moore Street Preservation Trust. The GPO could form the heart of that 1916 cultural quarter, not only as a museum and as a space for artistic and cultural events, but also as the signature headquarters for a vast array of cultural agencies whose offices could be accommodated in its huge 25,000 sq. m expanse. Instead of the State paying extortionate rent to private offices to house public bodies like the Arts Council, Foras na Gaeilge and other agencies in offices spread across this city, we could save money and promote best practice and the cross-pollination of creative ideas by bringing them together under one roof, the roof that gave birth to the Republic.

Tá tús curtha leis an gcath chun Ard-Oifig an Phoist a chosaint. The fight to save the GPO has started; a fight we intend to win for those who came before us and those who will come after us.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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It is fair to say that on the watch of this Government O'Connell Street and the surrounding area have definitely been neglected. I am sick and tired of Government representatives giving out about Dublin city, running the capital down and hiding their jewellery when they walk down Talbot Street. We see them.

The answer to how the Government treat O'Connell Street and the surrounding area is investment and respect. That is what we should see from the Government. It has run down the capital city for too long. Our revolutionary history is important to us in Sinn Féin, the people who have joined us in the Gallery and the people watching this debate. If it is not important to the Government, then shame on it.

Does the Minister of State think it is acceptable to roll his eyes, shake his head and smirk? It is not because when the mask slips with the Government, it slips all the way down to its ankles and we see exactly what it is that it has planned. The breathtaking ignorance of our history on display from the Government is shameful. I would have thought the Government might have learned something after its plans to celebrate the Black and Tans, but it turns out that lessons learned is something the Government says but which does not have any meaning, as we see from its latest stunt which is more of the same, namely ignorant revisionism from a Government that seems almost ashamed of Dublin's revolutionary past.

I am proud of our capital city, proud to be a Dub and proud of the 1916 rebels. How the Government treats the GPO is a measure of its respect for our history. Commercialisation of the GPO will not be tolerated. It is not what the task force recommended and it is not what people want. We want an end to State-supported dereliction of our capital city. My colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, has put forward a plan to create a 1916 cultural quarter. The Government should scrap its amendment and engage with us on our plans for a vibrant city centre.

If the Government presses ahead with its plan, this disgraceful proposal will be resisted and met with strong resistance from people who are proud of our history and ashamed of what the Government is proposing. It might be okay for the Government to stick a Starbucks, McDonald's or something like that in the area, and the Minister of State can shake his head, but the Government is leaving the door open to do exactly that. The Government should shut that down. Deputy McAuliffe will get his chance to speak.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Deputies.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy cannot be telling the House-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I do not appreciate the interruption.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy McAuliffe-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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If he interrupts again, I want the clock turned off.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy McAuliffe, the Deputy is entitled to her speech without your interruption.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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She is not entitled to mislead the House.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Absolutely. I am entitled to speak in this Chamber. I have a mandate just as Deputy McAuliffe does. I would appreciate if some time was added at the end for my colleagues for that rude interruption.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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The people of this State should not be surprised that the Government proposes to develop the historic GPO into a commercial centre for office and retail units. It should not be surprising because the Government, especially Fianna Fáil, talks out of both sides of its mouth. It talks about protecting our heritage and revolutionary past, yet despite promise after promise the Taoiseach has backed the big developers who intend to destroy Dublin's historic Moore Street.

Sinn Féin, along with others, including relatives of the heroes of 1916, has campaigned to develop a 1916 cultural and revolutionary quarter which would include Henry Street, Moore Street and the GPO. The centrepiece of this revolutionary quarter would be the buildings along Moore Street. The wealth of history in this area is astonishing.

I am a proud Dub and have spent my entire life in the north inner city. I have taken several tours. I advise the Minister of State to go on a tour with Liz Gillis. She outlines the forgotten history of the women of 1916 who refused to back down from orders to leave the GPO when it was burning after was bombed by the British army and how, when they left the wounded volunteers to go to Jervis Street hospital, they left under intense British fire along Henry Street and refused to stop until they got their comrades medical treatment. Elizabeth O'Farrell, despite intense British army fire, delivered the surrender on Moore Street after Pádraig Pearse and the volunteers tried and failed to break through the homes and businesses along the street.

Hundreds of people take tours of O'Connell Street every day, some specific revolutionary tours. These tours take place despite the fact this and previous Governments have presided over the neglect and dereliction of our main street and country. This shameful proposal to downgrade our revolutionary past is typical of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and it will not be tolerated by the proud republican people of Dublin.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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Over the years, we have lost too much of our national heritage through disastrous developments such as the council offices on Wood Quay, built over a Viking village, or the destruction of the Georgian facades around St. Stephen's Green and Merrion Square because of dubious planning decisions. It was heartbreaking to see the conscious and deliberate destruction of the home of The O'Rahilly. We are not against progress, but we are against progress at all costs with no thought to its impact on what should be regarded as our national treasures.

Rather than seeking to preserve these national monuments, the Government seems intent on flogging them off to the highest bidder. Who could fathom that serious consideration is being given to a proposal that sites as historically significant as the GPO and Moore Street will be turned into what is basically a big shopping mall with office spaces? We have one opportunity to get this right, otherwise we will lose for ourselves and the generations yet to come what the National Museum described as the most important historic site in modern Irish history.

Governments have made many mistakes with regard to the preservation of our national heritage, but instead of learning from these mistakes the Government seems intent on replicating them. This quarter that encompasses the GPO and the Moore Street battle site is rich in the history of the Rising. Some of the most important events of the Rising occurred in these buildings and on the streets surrounding them. We still see evidence of the fight in the scars of battles on many of the buildings in the area. These buildings are culturally significant as symbols of the courage and sacrifice of the Irish people when facing the might of an empire.

The events that took place in the GPO and Moore Street were pivotal moments which ultimately led to the War of Independence and the fight for freedom. I am probably the only person in the Dáil who had two grandfathers who fought in the 1916 Rising. One of my grandfathers, Peter Doyle, fought in the GPO and on Moore Street with Pearse and Connolly. My other grandfather, Samuel Ellis, fought in Jacob's factory. For me, my family, republicans and others throughout the country, we see the Government proposals as a deep insult and desecration of their memory and sacrifice. These sites belong to them, the people and men and women who fought and died for Irish freedom.

To preserve these historic sites and honour the memory of those who fought in 1916, Sinn Féin has alternative proposals for the area surrounding the GPO, encompassing O'Connell Street and Moore Street. Such an area would include a living museum that would recreate the historical events of the area and provide visitors with a practical interpretation of the Rising. Such a development would revitalise the area, increase tourism and bring much-needed employment opportunities. The Government needs to designate the area as national monument to preserve the historical quarter. Otherwise, it is an exercise in destruction.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are no strangers to hollowing out our cities and public spaces for corporations. There is no such thing as public space in our capital any more. Scandalously, there is but a single public bathroom in the entirety of Dublin city today. Selling off our dearest national monument as corporate prey is one more step in that direction, and another in a series of affronts to our national history and republican legacy.

Tá Ard-Oifig an Phoist mar cheann de na suíomhanna stairiúla is tábhachtaí in Éirinn. D'imir an suíomh ról lárnach in Éirí Amach 1916. Is ar na céimeanna a léadh an Forógra, agus is ann a thug Cogadh na Saoirse casadh cinniúnach. Dá dtiontófaí Ard-Oifig an Phoist ina haonad gnó, bhainfí ó shuntas stairiúil an tsuímh agus chaillfeadh na glúnta atá le teacht an nasc leis an miotais náisiúnta. D'aithin an tAire, an Teachta O'Brien, an méid sin in 2015. Mar Sheanadóir, thug sé Bille chun cinn a chosnódh ceantar Shráid an Mhúraigh.

The Bill of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to protect our cherished public heritage in the Moore Street area reached Committee Stage in 2015 but, strangely, never became part of his agenda when he took over the reins in the Department with a remit over housing and heritage in 2020. As usual, when the developers descend, Fianna Fáil steps aside and lets the vultures have at it. Where does Fianna Fáil draw the line? Clearly, nothing is off limits, not even the birthplace of our Republic of 1916. Sinn Féin will not let any English developer plunder our national heritage.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I move:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes:

— the ongoing commitment of this Government to honouring the men and women of 1916;

— the hugely successful and inclusive Decade of Centenaries programme, and the Government's investment in key capital projects in that regard, including the seminal 1916 Museum and Exhibition at the General Post Office (GPO), and the purchase by the State of the National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street; and

— its affirmation of the status of the GPO as the headquarters of the 1916 Easter Rising, and the site at which the Proclamation of the Republic was read on Easter Monday, 24th April, 1916;

acknowledges the central role the GPO has played since 1818 in delivering postal services, and its historical significance as an early home for the predecessor of RTÉ, 2RN;

recognises the enduring role of the GPO as a hub of communication, connecting communities across the country;

further notes:

— that the Government has approved the overall approach as outlined by the Interdepartmental Group on the recommendations of the proposed Roadmap for Delivery: Dublin City Taskforce Report;

— the accelerated delivery of several landmark capital projects in Dublin's core area, forming part of a broader strategy to drive urban regeneration and sustainable development as a result of the work of the Interdepartmental Working Group and the Dublin City Taskforce;

— that this commitment will be reflected in the review of the National Development Plan (NDP) and aims to help build delivery momentum across priority projects;

— that the NDP 2021-2030, published in 2021, included the GPO redevelopment and clearly sets out the intentions relating to the GPO that the building will remain in public ownership, and the rich cultural heritage of the building will be preserved through continued operation of the historic post office and the museum on the ground floor, and, sympathetic to development elsewhere on O'Connell Street, the upper floors will be refurbished to provide office accommodation for civil servants; and

— that a detailed proposal for the future use of the GPO will be developed by the Office of Public Works (OPW), and submitted for approval by the Government in due course, and it is acknowledged that there will be a need to consult on design, and that the consultation would be wide ranging given the emblematic importance of the GPO, not only to Dubliners but also to the public all over Ireland;

endorses the intention to reflect the national historical and cultural significance of the GPO in any development plans, creating a dynamic and respectful reuse of a key historical civic landmark; and

furthermore, notes:

— the acquisition by the State of the National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street;

— the significant stabilisation and weathering works undertaken by the Government to preserve and save the buildings from further deterioration, and, in particular, the preservation works relating to the historic tunnels;

— the extensive engagement with relevant stakeholders, including political parties, through, inter alia, the work of the Moore Street Advisory Group and other fora; and

— the more recent progress made by the OPW on the restoration and conservation of the National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street.".

The General Post Office complex site, the former headquarters of An Post, remains the principal post office of our capital city. It is one of the most prominent and well-known buildings of our capital and country, perhaps the most well known. It has secured a place in our history and in our country's future due to its role in the 1916 Easter Rising and the hallowed space from where this republic was born. It is not just a building. It is a witness to our struggle, our sacrifice and our rising. It was here beneath the Tricolour flying defiantly over the colonnade that the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was first read aloud to the world. Here the plum of our nation's great dream turned red with the blood of patriots who dared to imagine a free Ireland.

As things stand, it comprises just under 24,000 sq. m of mixed-use accommodation, including office space, the post office itself, the Witness History exhibition centre, as well as some retail units and the GPO shopping arcade. While there has been a range of minor conservation interventions over many years, the condition of the fabric of the building has deteriorated in places and the building management system needs to be upgraded. In late 2023, the majority of the GPO staff moved to new premises in the north docklands and a reduced cohort of approximately 300 staff remain at the GPO complex.

The interdepartmental group on the Dublin city task force held its first meeting in October 2024, with a number of Departments and agencies represented at senior level. The recent report of the group provides a path to implement the Dublin city task force recommendation, including governance and oversight. The report outlines the engine for delivery and the required partnership that, with the right expertise and focus, can deliver actions to make Dublin city more thriving and attractive, a safe cityscape and a desirable location to live, work and visit.

The report includes recommendations for the future of the GPO. It proposes that the redevelopment of the GPO complex be an ambitious national flagship project. It proposes a mixed-use development, with a combination of cultural, retail and office components befitting the national historic and cultural importance of the site, all to be the subject of a detailed proposal to be developed and led by the OPW. The OPW has already undertaken a preliminary assessment of the building fabric and services, including a detailed survey of the entire complex. Detailed topographical surveys and internal and external digital scanning of the entire property have been completed, as well as subsurface surveys, which will provide information critical to the future detailed design process. This technical work will inform interventions to safeguard the property in future.

The project has been included as a key project of the OPW's submission on the revised national development plan, which affirms that the GPO will remain in public ownership. The rich cultural heritage and essence of the building will be preserved through its continued operation of the historic post office and the museum on the ground floor. Sympathetic to development elsewhere on O'Connell Street, the upper floors will be refurbished to provide office accommodation for public servants, a key piece of infrastructure for modern government administration.

It is acknowledged by the OPW and by us all that there will be a need to consult on design, and that this consultation will be wide-ranging, given the profound symbolic and real importance of the GPO, not only to Dubliners, but to many in our nation and among our diaspora. In addition, the redevelopment of the complex affords us an opportunity to further enhance a space for the public with new visitor attractions and a city centre venue with cultural, education and recreational facilities.

Redevelopment of the GPO complex will, of course, need to be considered in the context of the surrounding urban landscape. We will need to ensure that various envisaged projects work together in harmony to revitalise the area and address some of the wider urban and social challenges facing this area of the city. Conservation-led development of the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street is one such project, where detailed work into the refurbishment of the national monument is well progressed.

As all well know, legal proceedings from 2016 thwarted the State's hope and stopped all works, apart from essential stabilisation and preservation measures that were agreed by the High Court. Since the Court of Appeal overturned the earlier judgment in 2018, the Moore Street advisory group to the Minister has advised on how best to proceed with plans for the monument as well as a visitor centre to the rear. It was to liaise with stakeholders with a view to securing agreement for the redevelopment of the area in a way that is sensitive to its history, its culture and its traditions. This group went through three iterations and comprised 1916 relatives and Moore Street traders as well as Oireachtas and local authority members. The group provided three separate reports to the Minister, all of which contained a number of suggestions. The key recommendation was that work would begin on the monument as soon as possible.

Plans for the refurbishment of the national monument, along with a visitor centre to the rear, are well under way. A steering group of officials from the Department and the OPW is guiding the complex process involved in a project such as this. Considerable work has been done to ensure all preparatory work for any redevelopment has been thoroughly carried out, and all public infrastructure guidelines have been adhered to. A design team for the project has been appointed and an application for ministerial consent for investigative works has been received, which will inform the full ministerial consent application, which is anticipated to be submitted shortly.

I am pleased to say the interpretation stage of the project, with detailed design of the exhibition, has been signed off and the appointed consultants are in the process of preparing tender documents for the exhibition elements of the commemorative centre. The project was awarded €12.17 million under the urban regeneration and development fund and the balance will be funded through the Exchequer. I am glad to say that works to the national monument are completely independent of works to the surrounding area and will proceed under ministerial consent as soon as possible, once all of the plans have been made.

I stand before the Dáil not merely to speak of bricks and mortar, and not simply to honour the fine neoclassical building that has graced O'Connell Street since 1818. I speak of a living symbol, a sacred place that still resonates with the fierce unyielding rhythm of Irish freedom, identity and resilience. To walk through the GPO doors today is to walk through time. Each echo on its stone floors is a whisper of Pearse, Connolly and Clarke, a chorus of voices who would not be silenced and who gave their all so that we might inherit a nation proud and free. The bullet holes still etched in its columns are not scars - they are scriptures. They are reminders of what we owe and to whom, and what we must never forget.

I plead with Sinn Féin not to put out an incorrect narrative on this. We are all connected to this period of our revolutionary history. Many TDs and Senators have a direct link to this revolutionary period, not just Sinn Féin.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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No one said that.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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There are people whose family members participated through different periods of this revolutionary period. Sinn Féin does not own this narrative. We all have an invested role here. To hear things such as "betrayal" and to hear the Government being accused of the "wanton destruction" of this revolutionary period is completely outrageous and untoward. There was no mention of the investment in Kilmainham Gaol and the incredible visitors' centre that we have there-----

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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It is run by volunteers.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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There was no mention of-----

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Volunteers did that for decades.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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-----the €10 million spent on the exhibition that we already have in the GPO. There was no mention of the decade of centenaries. None of that was mentioned. It was completely wiped out for Sinn Féin's narrative. The Government is invested in this. With anything that happens to the GPO, there will be an absolute focus on the cultural importance of the GPO.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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There will be a focus on the historic importance of the GPO. There will be a focus on the role this period played in this important part of Ireland's history. The reason the State bought and owns 14-17 Moore Street is to protect it and to commemorate what happened in those houses on Moore Street. To hear descriptions such as "betrayal" and "wanton destruction" is-----

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State said that.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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----- completely out of order.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Look at Moore Street.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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Cultural vandalism.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Has the Minister of State been down Moore Street recently?

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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That is why we are strongly opposing-----

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Has the Minister of State been down Moore Street recently?

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin does not even know what it is opposing.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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That is why we are strongly opposing this motion.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Has Deputy McAuliffe? Has he seen Moore Street recently?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Order, please.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputies have mentioned retail outlets such as McDonald's and Carroll's. First, there is already a retail element to the GPO complex. The Deputies cannot deny that a GPO complex is already there. Sinn Féin is trying to put across this argument, in its Members' own words, that it will be turned into a "giant shopping mall". That is absolutely not the case-----

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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There are no plans for a shopping mall.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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That is what the Government is doing on Moore Street.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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-----and it is completely unfair to describe it as such.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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There will be a new apartment block on Moore Street

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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At the centre of anything that happens to the GPO will be the museum and the cultural and historical aspect of it. I would love if Sinn Féin were to co-operate on this project because we have an opportunity to create something wonderful. Yes, there will be a retail element to it. Yes, there will be-----

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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Retail.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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-----civic offices. At the centre will be-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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No civic offices.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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-----the role this beautiful building played in Ireland's history, in the revolutionary period and in 1916. That has to be acknowledged and it has been acknowledged.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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I honestly cannot think of anywhere else in the world that would treat a major historical site, one that is so central to the modern history of their country, in such a disrespectful manner.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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The GPO should be preserved for generations and should become a focal point, along with the preservation and restoration of nearby Moore Street. They should be part of a historical and cultural quarter of the city that respects the importance of the history of 1916. I do not know about the other Deputies, but I could not believe my ears when the Taoiseach spoke about putting first-class retail into the GPO. Holy moly. The place is already surrounded by retail. Has the Taoiseach not seen that?

This is the main street of our capital city. Every single day, it is full of people from all over Ireland and the world. Let us use this opportunity to educate people on the history of the Easter Rising. Let us showcase our Irish culture, our music, our literature, our dance and our language. Yes, the GPO should continue to do what it does best: to operate as a post office. At the moment, O'Connell Street and Moore Street are full of phone shops, vape shops and decaying buildings. The area has been falling into despair for years. We clearly need to take bold steps to revitalise this part of the city. I believe that Deputy Ó Snodaigh's motion and the Moore Street Preservation Trust's plan are what can do that. The GPO is where our freedom was proclaimed. We should be protecting and preserving it. It should be a focal point for our history.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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When we speak of the GPO and the Moore Street area, we are not just talking about buildings and laneways, but of the cornerstone of our rebel history in a city that fought an empire. The GPO is not architecture; it was the battleground of striking for Irish independence. It is a monument to selfless sacrifice, and, when heavily shelled by the British forces, leaving much of it in ruins, it now appears Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and their Independents seek to rebrand that history and what it represents. At Easter 1916, it was ordinary men and women who stood and fought there, not for commerce or for convenience, but for a vision of a republic that was free, proud and sovereign. To now consider converting this sacred historical area into more shops, regardless of class, and office space is quite frankly an outrage and an embarrassment. We are the stewards of this nation's legacy. Legacies are not preserved by erasing them. They are preserved with purpose. Other nations do this as a matter of pride. They enshrine their revolutionary heritage into civic spaces. Why should we do less? Why should we do less with Irish revolutionary heritage?

This motion sets out a vision of a 1916 cultural quarter, a living, dynamic cultural space that would educate and inspire, a place where young and old engage with history, not as a distant memory, but of our living heritage, where tourists come not just to buy, but to learn and understand who we are and how we got here. It would be a cultural development with soul and a cultural investment with return. We cannot allow history to be overwritten - not at Moore Street or the GPO, which should be spaces that honour our past, enrich our present and shape our future. If we reduce our most historic sites to units of rent, what message are we sending? That profit outweighs our rebel history and our patriot dead. Let us not forget those ordinary people who stood in the GPO in 1916. They did not do it for shops or offices. They did it for an Irish Republic. The least we can do is to ensure that the place that became iconic in that rebellion remains a space worthy of their fight and sacrifice.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank my colleague, Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh, not only for bringing this motion to the House, but for the battle he continuously fights to protect our rebel history and respect our patriot dead and their families. Sinn Féin has set out a clear vision in Aengus's Bill to develop the 1916 cultural quarter in line with the Moore Street Preservation Trust. The GPO and the surrounding lanes and houses of Moore Street are hallowed ground for Irish people. The Government's proposal to sell off this incredible piece of history to private proprietors is beyond comprehension to most Irish citizens.

It is on the steps of the GPO that Pádraig Pearse read the words of the Proclamation, and it is from within that building that the revolutionary Government of 1916 led the 1916 Rising, a Proclamation that after more than 100 years is yet to be fully realised. That tells us a lot about the Governments we have had in the interim. Dublin became the city that fought the biggest empire in the world from the epicentre of the GPO. The question people have been asking this evening and in the last week is about why Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are hellbent on extinguishing the memory of those who died for Irish independence.

This Government plans to ignore the vote of the Dáil to name the national children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn. It is outrageous.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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At every turn, this Government chooses to denigrate our history. Why will it not name the new hospital after Kathleen Lynn? It would be a fitting tribute to the Mayo woman who served as the most senior ranking woman in the 1916 Rising, who set up Ireland's first children's hospital and who led efforts to eradicate TB.

The Government should choose a fitting name for the national children's hospital and it must protect and develop the GPO and the Moore Street cultural quarter. The Government is not going to get away with this. The people of Ireland will rise up to make sure that it does not, that it honours our patriot dead and that it does the right thing. Aengus Ó Snodaigh talked earlier about the Government's strategy of delete, delete and delete. The Government will not be allowed to delete this.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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When Pádraig Pearse stood outside the GPO on Easter 1916 to read the Proclamation, he read it not in the hopes that he might one day live to see it, but in the knowledge that the generations of republicans to follow would.

The Proclamation of the Republic is not just a script to put in a picture frame. It is the inspiration of a republic that found a voice in our Proclamation. It was a document so ahead of its time that it still remains an aspiration to all of us who love our country today, the sacred promise of a 32-county republic.

Not only has the Government failed to live up to the spirit of the Republic declared in 1916, but it also now seeks to destroy its legacy by commercialising our sacred site and turning our rebel quarters and our national shrine into a shopping centre and a tourist gimmick. Should we be surprised? This is the same Government that in 2020 sought to commemorate the Black and Tans. It is the same Government that, to our shame, has done nothing to unite Ireland and nothing to advance the 32-county republic that was declared in 1916. A Fine Gael TD spoke last week about making the GPO a place filled with people again. It was not really people he wanted to fill it with, but consumers. A constituent said to me last week that by the time this Government is done desecrating the sanctity of the hallowed grounds, the next commemoration of 1916 will see our Proclamation read in front of a Costa Coffee. Let me remind this Government that it is a steward, not auctioneer. It inherited the promised Republic not built on property deals, but on principles. The Government's duty is to protect our heritage where Irish rebels once bled, not to commodify their sacrifice. Let us stand as the 1916 leaders once did, not for profit, but for purpose and pride. This is more than history. This is our identity. This is Ireland and it is not for sale. The souls of our patriot dead are not for sale either.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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The General Post Office is one of the most respected sites on this island. It allows us to remember and reflect on the sacrifice of the 1916 rebels. It is our responsibility, as the generations who come after them, to commemorate their sacrifices and to work to realise the aspirations of the 1916 Proclamation. Therefore, the Government's plans to redevelop parts of the building into a mixed-use precinct, which would include retail and office units, are outrageous. Is this really the best idea the Government could come up with for a building of such cultural and historical significance? Sinn Féin has advocated for the GPO and the wider Moore Street area to become an historical quarter. Such a quarter would commemorate the sacrifice of the 1916 rebels in a way that was respectful and ensured that the GPO was a living, breathing institution.

I come from the town of Athenry where the local community holds enormous pride in our revolutionary history. Athenry was one of the main focal points outside of Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising. It was where Liam Mellows led hundreds of Volunteers to revolt against British rule. I commend the work of Athenry Tidy Towns and the Relatives and Friends of Galway 1916 to 1923, who have created a fantastic garden in Athenry to commemorate the men and women of the 1916 Rising who took up arms for the cause of Irish freedom.

The respect and honour shown by the local Athenry community stands in direct contrast with these recent moves by the Government. What was the sacrifice of the 1916 rebels for? Was it for Carroll's Irish Gifts or Krispy Kreme doughnuts? The Government must put a stop to these plans for making the site where the 1916 Proclamation was recited into yet another bland retail space. Stop hollowing out our national monuments and act to preserve the GPO as a memorial to the sacrifices of the 1916 rebels.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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The GPO is more than just a building. It is the beating heart of Dublin city and of our history. It is the centre of civic memory with a 200-year history and, crucially, it is a site with enormous potential. The GPO stood witness to the events of 1916 but the walls have seen far more than that. It bore witness to the 1913 Lock-out, which was a defining moment for workers' rights. It has stood through both world wars when thousands of Irish men were away at war and their families waited anxiously for letters from the front line. It was a telephone room that connected people to loved ones as they emigrated to England, Australia and America. In a very real way, the GPO has been the front room of the nation, a place where people gathered, where stories were shared and where history happened. It has been a focal point not just for rebellion, but also for protest, celebration and connection.

It is remarkable that the GPO has never stood still. It has always been reinventing itself. Now it is up to us to ensure that its next chapter serves people just as powerfully as it did in the past. The Labour Party hopes that the Government is not prepared to trade imagination for inertia, heritage for market value, or public good for private gain. We are standing at a crossroads and we must ask if the GPO will become just another office block or, worse, a home for retail chains. Worse again, is it at risk of being handed over to the highest bidder? Or will we have the courage to make it a living, breathing public institution, one that honours our revolutionary past while building for our cultural future?

The GPO must stay in the hands of the State and be developed for public use, the Minister of State has said. The alternative would be to allow market logic to dictate what happens on one of the most symbolically important pieces of land in the country. This would be a failure of political imagination and a huge missed opportunity. For years, Dublin has seen the relentless erosion of its artistic and cultural life, driven out by commercial rents, developer greed and political neglect. The GPO should be transformed into an artistic and cultural hub, complete with artists' studios, performance venues, education spaces and, critically, housing. Any hollowing out should stop and the GPO offers us a lifeline here. Its courtyards are flooded with natural light and its walls are steeped in history. This could house workshops, performance spaces and residences. With the right investment, former office units could be converted into affordable apartments for artists and cultural workers, something truly groundbreaking for a city desperate for both housing and creative spaces. If offices are truly necessary, why not offer space to local start-ups and grassroots enterprises?

When it comes to the GPO, we are facing deeply contentious issues and, frankly, I believe the current plans miss the mark to some degree. Time and again, we hear about "meanwhile use". If that is truly the intention why do we not actually test those uses before locking us into something permanent and potentially regrettable? Meanwhile use is one of the latest phrases from a Government seemingly allergic to long-term vision. If it truly believes the GPO can be used temporarily while long-term plans are figured out, well, let us prove it. Open the space, host exhibitions, support community theatre and open-air historical re-enactments, facilitate youth workshops, create performance venues, and make a commitment here and now that the GPO gets an event space and that it will be a public venue, accessible, affordable and alive with the cultural energy the city is crying out for.

This entire district of Moore Street to the GPO and to Parnell Square should be reimagined as a 1916 revolution quarter, a place of remembrance, regeneration and renewal. This site does not belong to any Government or Opposition party, or to any Minister or development firm. It belongs to the people.

It is deeply disappointing that successive Governments have ignored reports with plans for the area and instead facilitated a private profit-maximising vision that erodes rather than enhances the historic fabric. It is a dereliction of civic duty. A city without culture is a city without soul. A capital that forgets it revolutionaries is a capital that sidelines them. A State that abandons public assets to market logic is a State that has lost sight of the public good. This is not just about a building, but about our values. It is about whether we are shaping a city for profit or for people and whether we honour our history in building a living legacy or sell it off piece by piece to the highest bidder.

Let me be clear. The Labour Party is completely opposed to the idea of long-term office space or a parade of big retail brands setting up shop on this historically significant site. This is not just another building. It is a cornerstone of our national story. That does not mean it should become a static museum piece. Far from it, but surely there is a richer and more meaningful cultural and educational use that should take precedence within the building that uses and serves the public, not just the market. If the plan includes an event space, let us demand real commitment that it be truly a public venue, accessible, inclusive and alive for live events. In a city sorely lacking in performance spaces, this is a chance to address this need, not to ignore it. The future of the GPO must still be written but it is more than just property value. It is more than just square footage or euro signs. It should be about creativity, remembrance and public purpose.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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In Ulysses, James Joyce referred to O'Connell Street from the GPO to Parnell Street as "the dead side of the street." Some 102 years on, not much has changed. Indeed, things have got worse if we think of the wasteland of the Carlton Cinema site and Moore Street, where the top floors of many buildings are held up by bricks.

I thank Sinn Féin and an Teachta Ó Snodaigh for this important motion. While I agree with the vast majority of it, there is an issue regarding the need for ideas as to what we now do with the massive complex that makes up the GPO. I have read the Government amendment and aside from the ridiculous clap on the back it is trying to give itself, I am even more confused as to its intentions. Last November, in the task force, we were told we would have a detailed plan for the GPO in the first quarter of this year. This has not happened. Last week, the Taoiseach said it would be a historical project with first-class retail and office space. Now we are told that the clear intentions were set out in 2021, the detailed proposal will come in time and it will be a post office and offices. This is an appalling lack of commitment to the GPO as a landmark and one of the most important historical buildings in our country's history. It also shows an appalling lack of imagination about what the building could become. We do not need any more shiny, new offices in Dublin. We know there is an office vacancy rate of 18%. We do not want and we do not need any more big-brand retail outlets, particularly in a place like the GPO.

The Labour Party firmly believes that we should not confine the GPO to being a shrine to the past. When we think of the Proclamation and its promise, the signatories to it, including James Connolly, would have very little patience for this in the face of a glaring need prompted by housing distress in Dublin and the devastating, unfulfilled promise of the Proclamation. Instead of having the GPO as a relic to the past, it would be best remembered as a living, breathing institution. At 25,000 sq. m, it is almost two thirds bigger than the pitch in Croke Park. Beyond our beloved post office, which in some ways is the beating heart for many of our lives, those of us who have lived in Dublin a long time and those new to Dublin as well, there are two internal courtyards and five floors of office space. We need to make sure this space is utilised.

As an immediate starting point, we should utilise the office space in the GPO for artists' studios. There is a glaring and pressing need for such studios in the city. We have the office space available. Artists will say they do not need a fancy set-up. They just need natural light and a basic room. Many of the offices in the GPO would fulfil those needs. It would be scandalous to think that two years after the majority of the staff moved out of the GPO, the offices would remain vacant for longer. They should be put to use.

The other key issue is that when we have a discussion about what the GPO should become, we need to set in context that funding for this project is not likely any time soon. As a Dublin Central TD, I know there is already a long list of commitments by the Government that have yet to be fulfilled on the northside of the city and in the north inner city, in particular in areas such as the Parnell quarter and the fruit and vegetable market. Do we really believe Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will allocate the necessary millions to convert the building and bring the office spaces up to date any time soon? Do we really believe they will put in place the necessary historical projects that should go in to the GPO any time soon? I do not believe that will happen. This is why our immediate call is to put the building to use now and then put in place a plan of between five and ten years for the appropriate development of the GPO. We need, rightly, to recognise its history and we also need to ensure it can be an artistic hub into the future, remembering the past but also, crucially, representing the best of the present and what might be in the future for Dublin.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this timely, welcome and debate-worthy motion to the Chamber. The motion asks us to do something that successive governments have failed to do, namely, treat the GPO and Moore Street as if they matter. I am not just referring to this Government but the previous one and the one before that. Going back to the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, the GPO played very little part in the celebrations, and Moore Street none at all. I understand there have been plans and court cases but I walk past the GPO and through Moore Street on most days and the impact of those plans is to be seen right in front of me as I tread the streets. The GPO is not just a landmark; it is a physical foundation of the Republic itself. It was ground zero for a vision of Ireland that still dares to speak of equality, self-determination and cherishing all the children of the nation equally.

I support the motion but I will also go further. What is being offered by the Government is not just inadequate to the history, meaning and symbolism of the structure and its place in our history; it is nauseating in its limitations. A so-called cultural space wrapped in offices and retail outlets. That is not a legacy project or a tribute and it will not be functional. It is a failure of imagination. It is the kind of gesture a person makes when they do not believe in anything real, when the best a person can hope for is compromise and the worst is a cheap deal, dressed up in heritage language. What makes it worse is where it is happening, at the GPO, on Moore Street, on the very spot where the Republic was declared, not only in theory but in action.

What we speak of tonight is not just nostalgia; we are seeking clarity. When we talk about Moore Street and the GPO, we are talking about two places that are soaked in meaning. We are talking about a week in 1916 when a group of women and men, many of them poets, trade unionists, teachers and dreamers, stood in defiance of empire and declared a Republic on that spot. We are talking about the homes, laneways and tenements that surround them, where ordinary Dubliners paid the price. Too often we forget that more civilians than soldiers or rebels died during Easter week. We forget that women fetching water, children sitting by windows and elderly men trying to get to safety were all shot in the streets surrounding the GPO on that fateful day. On Moore Street, in the final hours of the Rising, when the GPO was burning and the rebel leaders were seeking to escape, local families were the ones caught in the crossfire. John O'Duffy, a pensioner in his 70s was killed crossing the street. Brigid McKane, 15 years old, was accidentally shot in the head by a volunteer who burst into her home in Henry Place. An infant, not yet two years old, was shot in her mother's arms.

When we talk about Moore Street and the GPO, we are talking not just about a battlefield site but about the community heritage and about the people who lived and died in the shadow of the Proclamation. We are talking about the unfinished business of that Proclamation. The Republic that was declared and the one that promised equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens has very clearly not yet been realised. We see this every single week with the protests that happen outside Dáil Éireann and the people who come into the Public Gallery for the vindication of a basic right, such as a wheelchair or a school place. This does not scream of a Republic fulfilled. We see this in housing, poverty, immigration and in how we have treated children, women and minority groups in the State. We see it in the fact that the most sacred civic space in our country is being treated like a planning headache, instead of a national opportunity.

The GPO should not be reduced to an architectural backdrop for a few retail units and a modest gesture towards history. It should be a national civic space, a living, breathing museum of the Irish Republic. It should not just be a museum of the 1916 Easter Rising, although that of course should be central, but something far more ambitious. It should be a place that tells the story of this Republic and its origins, promise, betrayals, heroes, silences, possibilities and complications, all housed within the space. It should be a museum that includes hunger strikers and the women who fought for their suffrage, the revolutionaries and resisters, the trade unionists and the campaigners for civil rights, repeal and marriage equality. It should be for the language movement, the immigrants, the Travellers, the queer community, the migrants and for all of those who call it home. We should also have a space where we can discuss the most difficult parts of our history, be that the Civil War or the Republic that was fought for and then relinquished to the church and other more conservative entities.

There is no cultural quarter in Dublin without Moore Street. There is no museum worth building that does not start with the people who are already there.

A statue of Cú Chulainn also stands inside the GPO. A warrior lashed to stone so he could die standing, it is a symbol that has taken on meaning within the Ulster cycle. The statue was placed there with the attached symbolism of sacrifice, but it is also crucial to be aware that it is a place that has now developed meaning in the Ulster tradition, which gives us one more layer of tradition and meaning at the location. This was later adapted by the Unionists too, with the myth that he died defending Ulster from the rest of Ireland. Whether we believe in that myth or not, or hold it as part of our identity or values, that is okay, but even in our most sacred national building, we have this moment of shared symbolism, complexity and contradiction. That is what a republic should be able to handle. It is also what this museum, a museum of our Republic, past, present and undelivered, should be able to cater for. A civic quarter could represent something far more than just the building, not a sanitised version of Irishness, nor a tourist-friendly package of 1916 memorabilia, but a brave, honest ambitious telling of who we are, who we have tried to be and who we can become.

If we look around Europe, in Amsterdam, the Dutch Resistance Museum does not just tell heroic stories, it asks visitors to reckon with fear, complicity and courage. In Riga, the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia tells the truth about Soviet and Nazi atrocities and does so in the city centre, not tucked away from sight. I refer to both of those museums for a specific reason. We talk about the fact that the GPO is a fairly massive site of nearly 25,000 sq. m, but both of those museums, in cities of similar size, scale and population, are bigger. Those countries understand that difficult history belongs in the public, that honesty is patriotism and that memory is not something to outsource to developers, so why can we not do it? Why, in Ireland, is our instinct always a compromise to commercialise and to put offices where civic ambition should be? The answer, of course, is political, cultural and ideological because at some level this Government, in particular Fine Gael-----

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should conclude.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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-----does not believe that public memory, public space or the ideals of the Republic should be entrusted to the people. They believe in markets, mixed-use developments and PR exercises. However, there are those of us who believe in something bigger, something more and something more truthful than that. I believe the GPO and Moore Street can be the centre of a living Republic, not one frozen in bronze-----

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy to conclude if he is sharing with his party colleagues.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I will finish by saying we should build something grander - something bigger that is a true reflection of the Republic.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I am proud to stand beside Deputy Gannon, who speaks with such a strong voice for Dublin city centre. He always has done, in particular on issues related to how we make Dublin a place for all people and really protect our culture and heritage.

I want to briefly cover three key points. The first is that the GPO is such a vital part of our heritage and a historical site of the greatest importance to the Irish nation.

Second, when I am on the doorsteps and people talk about safety in the city centre, they also talk about the lack of space as a factor contributing to that.

Finally, I want to reflect on the question of what we want our city to be. Is le gach uile dhuine ar an oileán seo ár stair, ár gcultúr agus ár n-oidhreacht. Many people criticise the city centre as being devoid of personality and of history. We must look at our city as not just somewhere for commerce, but somewhere for culture and history. There are plenty of retail and hospitality spaces in the city centre already. What there is a lack of is community space, cultural space, spaces that connect us as individuals and as a nation with our own history. It is not unique to Dublin to have historical sites in the middle of the city centre. What is unique is that we have not protected them. Other cities are able to balance that history with corporate and private interests and it is time we did that for our capital.

I want to speak about safety because I have heard from countless people in my constituency, Dublin Rathdown, which is a Dublin suburb, about how they worry coming into Dublin city centre. They do not just talk about Garda numbers or street lighting but about the fact that there is nowhere for community or that is dedicated to community. Not only does this proposed development for O'Connell Street erase a key part of our history but it replaces it with just another shopping centre and it does not fix any of the issues a lot of people have around safety in our city.

That brings me to my final question, which is what we want our city to be. When people look back on us in 100 years, we do not want them to say we knew the price of everything but the value of nothing. In every part of the city we are seeing privatisation - in healthcare, housing, public services, childcare and bin collection. That takes what should be for everyone and makes it just for some. That process is also incredibly difficult to reverse. Dublin city centre should be for everyone. The GPO, as a vital part of our history, should be for everyone. It should be somewhere that encourages people to engage with that history and that inspires art and culture, not somewhere that dismisses it as irrelevant or unprofitable.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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It is a defining moment for the preservation of our history. The GPO is fundamental to our past but it is not a relic. It has huge potential. I am lucky to live in Dublin South-Central, where Deputy Ó Snodaigh also lives and where history and historic buildings are preserved and celebrated. They include the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Kilmainham Gaol, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Of course we do not always get it right. I also live in a constituency where Kilmainham Mill has yet to see the preservation and restoration that it so well deserves. We must have a vision about things like this.

What I do not want to see is the GPO becoming some sort of a theme park where we have multiple shopping opportunities, like we do in other theme parks around the world. We want to preserve its history by providing learning spaces. I would love to see primary school children, secondary school children, researchers and third level students using that space to learn more about our history. I would also love to see a place where our historical crafts can be protected and celebrated and where there is space to thrive.

Whatever we decide, let us remember that our attractions and historical buildings are for our citizens as well as for the visitors who come here, so let us not commercialise our history but celebrate it.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I commend Deputy Ó Snodaigh, who has not just introduced this proposal but over the years has done great work, as has his family, to make sure the cultural and historical heritage of Ireland and this city is maintained and enhanced.

In the course of this debate we think about the sacrifices of those who fought in the GPO and the fact that Pearse read the Proclamation, an chéad Uachtarán Phoblacht na hÉireann, from the steps of the GPO on Easter Monday in 1916. All of that shows the historic nature of this building. As somebody from the country - a culchie - even when we were going to school we were always brought to see the GPO any time we came to Dublin. It has a special place in the hearts and minds of Irish people at home and abroad.

The GPO is also where RTÉ started off with Radio Éireann. It is hugely important. What is missing from the Government side is a bit of honesty around what is going to be defined as a commercial area. There is a small number of commercial units on one side of it, but we must be clear on what is being proposed. How many square metres are involved? Where is it to be located in the complex? Will it be a public-private partnership, PPP, as beloved by previous Governments? Will there be private sector involvement? They are the questions I have in this regard and I have not heard any of them being answered or coming up in the discussions.

What we do know is that an English developer owns the site around the back of the GPO. Some years ago, when I was only a number of months in the Dáil, Members went on a tour of the battlefield site around Moore Street. I was shocked to see the derelict state of the national monument and the terrace of houses along each side of it. The last meeting place of the Provisional Government was 14-17 Moore Street. It is a disgrace the way these buildings have been let fall into dereliction. Action should be taken on it immediately. It is a shame on all of us that this happened, but it is particularly a shame on the Department of culture and heritage under this and previous Governments.

Retail space and commercialisation should not happen. The city centre is full of commercial space. It is full of Costa Coffee outlets, takeaways, McDonald's restaurants and everything else. They have their place, as do department stores, etc., but there are lots of such buildings around. I would not object to some of the proposals that have been made.

Most people in this State are republicans to some degree.

Most people aspire to a 32-County Republic. Most people take their cue from the 1916 Proclamation. There are elements of that Proclamation that are not yet implemented - that must be said. Having an enhanced museum at the GPO and using the site for artistic and cultural purposes should be explored. The Government and its agencies are renting and leasing buildings here, there and everywhere around the city. Could some of those, particularly those used by the Office of Public Works or for other similar functions, be partially located in the GPO?

The national monument at the rear of Moore Street needs urgent action. I frame that in the context of the discussion here. When I first heard about this, I thought that this issue is not just about the GPO because the Moore Street sites have been allowed to fall into dereliction. Now the GPO is going to have increased commercialisation. There are plans for Bodenstown churchyard. I have been on to Kildare County Council and the Department of heritage about the plans to build a commercial graveyard beside it. Many Members go to Bodenstown churchyard every year under one guise or another. Different strands of Irish republicanism go there. Nobody and no political party has a monopoly on that. Bodenstown is another important site. The founding father of Irish republicanism is buried there and it is where the whole foundation of republicanism is honoured and remembered and where people recommit themselves to it. It is a national disgrace that there will now be a commercial cemetery adjacent to it. It will not be called Bodenstown cemetery but Wolfe Tone cemetery. If I have the details right, the proposals include one that the closer a person is buried to the actual Bodenstown cemetery and the grave of Wolfe Tone, the dearer the burial plots will be. People can buy plots there but the highest prices will prevail. It will be an absolute disgrace if that happens. Bodenstown is a national monument. As the Minister of State knows, if I were to seek to build a house, cattle shed or something else close to a national monument, for example, a ring fort, or something less important than that, all sorts of conditions would be attached and I would not be allowed to do it. Here we have a commercial development, with apparently some kind of commercial visitor centre, that is going to be landed adjacent to Bodenstown churchyard.

To move on to the debate around the naming of the national children's hospital, Kathleen Lynn was a volunteer in the Irish Citizen Army in 1916. Despite all her work and what she dedicated her life to, it seems Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents in Government could not bring themselves to call the hospital after Kathleen Lynn. We make a bags of the children’s hospital and Bodenstown churchyard. The battlefield site on Moore Street is in decay and dereliction, and now we are going to commercialise the GPO further. I am all for using that large space purposefully. I would be flexible enough regarding civic offices and some similar matters, provided there is a significant museum and cultural dimension to it and An Post retains its place there. As some Deputies said, it could also be used for artistic purposes. Some of those suggestions are well worth thinking about. It is now time to put a stop to all of this.

I ask the Minister of State and the officials present to take note of what I have said about Bodenstown. Kildare County Council will say its job is to grant planning permission and not make a judgment on national monuments. However, the Government, which the Minister of State is a member of, has a responsibility to protect sites of national importance. The burial place of Wolfe Tone in Bodenstown is a national monument. I have checked this out. The existing Bodenstown graveyard is owned by the county council. Beyond its walls, the land is private. Trying to commercialise Wolfe Tone, profit from the graveyard or turn it into any kind of commercial entity must not be allowed. It would be a disgrace if that happened.

It is still not too late to call the children's hospital after Kathleen Lynn instead of giving it the crass name of "The Children's Hospital". What is next? Will we have a proposal to put McDonald's and Costa Coffee up on the Rock of Cashel? Are we going to have something like that? Pearse read the Proclamation from the steps of the GPO. I have no doubt he had an input into the wording. He also wrote poetry. In one of his poems, he wrote: "Mór mo náir: Mo chlann féin a dhíol a máthair." Some of us will remember the words of that poem, "Mise Éire". It is unfortunate now that Pearse, the other leaders, the young working-class men and women of the Citizen Army and the young volunteers went in and took on the empire. They knew the odds were stacked against them before they went in there, but they knew what they were doing. They were prepared to put their lives on the line, with all of the disruption and heartache that caused for their families and everything else. We are now prepared to allow that to be desecrated. To do so would be a national disgrace. We need to revisit the words of Pearse, Connolly, Mellows and people like them and bring a bit of reality back into this debate. Some things are more important than money.

When I heard the term "mixed development" used, I recalled some of the most obnoxious developments I saw during the so-called Celtic tiger period. I am not against commercial development. Commercial developments have their place. I, and I am sure everyone in this Chamber, could bring the Minister of State around our constituencies and show him bad examples of mixed developments. We had apartments piled upon shop units, shop units piled in on top of residential areas and all sorts. We finish up with just vape shops, Costa Coffee shops, takeaway joints, etc., and nothing else. If that is what we are talking here, with mixed development being used as a cover for everything, it is a disgrace. It would be helpful for everyone to be upfront here and for us to be notified of what exactly is happening. Show us the detailed plans for these sites. I would like to see them. What exactly is being proposed here? In the meantime, I will support the motion.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:

To insert the following after "restoration and conservation of the National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street":

"; and

commits to:

— respecting the heritage and legacy of the leaders of 1916;

— ending the destruction of key National Monuments such as the O'Rahilly Home and Moore Street;

— implementing the Moore Street Preservation Trust plan for Moore Street;

— developing the GPO as a national cultural museum of the national struggle for independence; and

— purposing part of the GPO to pursue implementation of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic across the 32 counties of Ireland.".

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Aengus Ó Snodaigh as an rún seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála inniu. There will be a protest outside of the GPO on Tuesday, 8 July at 7 p.m. All political parties are welcome to speak at the event. Issues of this importance means that petty political differences should be set aside. We need to work together to make sure we send a strong statement to the Government that this is completely unacceptable. I thank all the campaigners who have been working in the Moore Street area for decades, especially the Moore Street Preservation Trust and the other campaigners who have dedicated so much time to try to lift Moore Street out of the squalor it has been left in and to raise it up to the heritage and cultural quarter that it could and should be. I was very proud to serve on the consultative forum for many years along with those campaigners and some of the traders from Moore Street.

Aontú will table an amendment to the Government's amendment simply seeking that the Dáil commit to respecting the heritage and the legacy of the leaders of 1916; ending the destruction of key national monuments such as The O'Rahilly home and Moore Street; implementing the Moore Street Preservation Trust's plan for Moore Street; developing the GPO as a national cultural museum of the national struggle for independence; and proposing that part of the GPO be used to pursue the implementation of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic across the Thirty-two Counties. In many ways, the most significant use of the GPO should be to make sure it is the engine of delivery of the Proclamation.

The Proclamation is the foundation document of this country. It embodies many of the values Irish people hold and yet it remains unfulfilled. It remains a document that is still in the making. It is our objective to make sure that happens.

We need to understand the significance of the GPO and the Moore Street area. It is a national monument. It is one of, if not, the most important battle field in the country. It was the headquarters of 1916. It is seminal in the moment of the birth of this nation, the ground zero of the independence struggle. One hundred and ten years ago the Union Jack flew over this city and every county across the country. That flag, or some version of it, flew for approximately 500 years in this country. It represented the largest empire the world has ever seen and it seemed immovable.

The generation that came in 1916 was probably one of the weakest generations Ireland had ever seen. It was a generation not far from the damage of An Gorta Mór, the Famine, when 1 million people died and 1 million people were forced to emigrate. The Irish nation at that time was on its knees and yet this generation set the objective of trying to remove a flag - and all it stood for - that was in this country for 500 years and they succeeded in lighting the fire that led to the War of Independence success for the Twenty-six Counties. They did not do it for a pipe dream . They did it because there was an existential threat, that if Ireland was ruled from abroad, the rulers would not take into consideration the needs of the country. They knew that London's rule over the country had an enormously damaging effect. That is the case. Self-determination is one of the key aspects of a proper, progressive, functioning society and if London, Brussels or Berlin makes decisions, they will not be as good as the decisions made by the Irish people.

It is interesting that every Minister in the Dáil has the power to be a Minister because of the sacrifice that was made in the GPO. The very sovereignty they are using to turn the GPO into a shopping centre comes from the death and destruction that happened to the revolutionaries in the GPO. It is an amazing insult that the Government would use that sovereignty in such a disgusting way, by destroying the GPO and what it stands for. One of the reasons I think this is happening is that the Government is embarrassed by the GPO, the Proclamation and 1916 because when it holds itself up against the objectives of 1916, it fails massively. The current Government does not hold the same objective as the people of 1916. The biggest issue for the people of 1916 was self-determination and sovereignty. Micheál Martin has said even in this Chamber that he does not agree with backward looking aspects of sovereignty. His disagrees with the idea that the Irish people are sovereign. Another example of why I think the Government is embarrassed by this is that the Union Jack still flies over Six Counties in this country. Just 70 miles away, the Union Jack flies. Again, it stands for other people making decisions for Irish people. It stands for people in Islington making decisions around Brexit, for people in Finchley making decisions about taxes or people in Birmingham making decisions about how royalties for resources in the North of Ireland are paid to the British Crown. The very fact Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have divorced themselves from the objective of the Proclamation to make sure self-determination is a 32-county experience is another reason the southern Government is so embarrassed by all this.

To recognise the value the Government places on these objectives and the heritage sites, it is important to look at the actions of the Government in how it treats those heritage sites. Deputy Stanley mentioned correctly what is happening to Bodenstown at the moment. It is an incredibly cheap abuse of such an important site in Irish history. What happened in Moore Street is unforgivable. Moore Street was meant to be completely redeveloped, fixed and sorted out in 2016. That was the original promise of the Government. Right now, Moore Street is a location for alcoholism, drugs, urination and defecation. That is what the Government thinks of the national monument that is Moore Street. The Government actually went to court to take away national monument status from Moore Street. That is what it thinks of Moore Street. Here we are again, treating the very centre or ground zero of the revolution, the GPO, badly by turning it into some tatty type of shopping centre. It is an incredibly poor thing. The Government allowed The O'Rahilly's house to be completely demolished overnight. I made pleas directly over and over to then Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to stop it happening and the Government sat on its hands. Then a few weeks later, Micheál Martin said it should not have happened, but when he had the power to do something, he remained completely silent about it.

The problem I have in all of this is that the particular site that includes the GPO and Moore Street offers wonderful opportunities to this country. It offers an opportunity for a heritage, cultural centre that could be the heartbeat of both the city and the country. It offers an opportunity for the use of the Irish language and for theatre, writing and the arts to have a home, yet the Government has allowed a building contractor to develop plans to smash through the terrace which the soldiers of the Republic tried to tunnel through to make their escape, beside where The O'Rahilly was killed in a hail of bullets by the British. It is just bonkers.

The reason I do not believe the Government is that one of the attributes of the Government when it says "No" is to say "Yes". I have seen Ministers go out to the gates of Leinster House on a regular basis putting their hands around campaign groups, saying "Yes" to them, getting into the photographs and giving big smiles and then coming into Leinster House and vote against them. The same happened when I tabled a Bill to make sure Moore Street would be recognised as a national monument. Fianna Fáilers and Fine Gaelers got up one after another to say they supported the objective, yet they voted against my Bill. There is a deep level of cynicism and lack of truth when it comes to the Government on developing Moore Street.

I had the opportunity, thankfully, to visit the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam and I remember it. It is an immersive museum. When you look out the window, you feel like you are in 1944. You expect to see German soldiers on the street because the museum is so powerful. It is in phenomenal demand from locals and international tourists. It is extremely educational with regard to what happened during the Second World War. The educational use alone is profound, yet when we ask the Government to do something similar with our national heritage, it is ignored.

I will talk about one other aspect of national heritage, namely the Irish language. The Irish language is another thing the Government treats like rubbish. There are fewer children going to Gaelscoileanna now than ten years ago. Is that not an incredible statistic to trot out? The level of money going into Foras na Gaeilge is reducing every year. It was at one stage the same as the Arts Council and now the Arts Council receives multiples of the amount of money the Irish language does. The values that seemed to be hard-wired into the revolutionary period and the Proclamation of the Republic were to cherish "all of the children of the nation equally " - 600,000 children are in poverty at the moment - and the right of the Irish people to own this country, yet the Government is handing it away lock, stock and barrel. It is handing over sovereignty as regards neutrality. It is currently looking to get rid of the triple lock mechanism. All the political aspirations for independence are being removed. That is why I believe this Government has no meas for the heritage of the country and why I think it is embarrassed by it. If you hold that generation up against this generation, there is a massive chasm between the two. It is a chasm that, unfortunately, I do not believe the Government will bridge.

I urge the Government at this stage to not treat the GPO like Moore Street. Do not treat the GPO like Bodenstown. Do not treat it like The O'Rahilly House. Lift it up into the cultural asset, educational opportunity and wonderful heritage that it is, and allow the people of Ireland to enjoy it for generations.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I, too, support this motion. I would question some aspects of it but the theme of it is very important. Are we going to abandon our forefathers and foremothers, people of our heritage? We had the Éamonn Bulfin Legacy Pipe Band from Argentina in Tipperary at the Liam Lynch national commemoration cúpla bliain ó shin. I thanked An Post because it obliged by giving the band a tour in there and allowing it to play in there. It was a wonderful occasion.

I refer to our Irishness, culture our heritage, "tír gan teanga, tír gan anam", and our soul. Where is the soul of this Government? I believe it is all over the world. Where is the Taoiseach tonight? Is he in Timbuktu, or somewhere in Japan or China? It does not matter. It is not Tipperary, Cork or Ireland. We seem to be acting for many other agencies, not serving the people under the Constitution those brave men and women fought for in that building. It is an iconic building, and it has to be held as a museum and a semi-sacred space to remind our politicians that this is Ireland. We represent the people. We are not leaders of the world. Our neutrality is an outdated concept according to the Taoiseach. We are putting money into a European army now, and God knows what next.

It is time for a wake-up call here regarding our language, heritage, culture and the iconic building of 1916, the GPO, and all that went on there with the brave men and women and the bloodshed. They took a stand to free us from peril, and what are we doing now? We are changing our country with migration and everything else, changing our culture completely. We are trying to turn ourselves inside out, and that is very bad. It is fatal, and people are waking up to it. Níl siad sásta, and why would they be sásta with that because it is a total betrayal of what the men and women of 1916 fought for in that building and all over Ireland as well.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas Cheann-Comhairle, an Aire agus an Teachtá Ó Snodaigh as ucht an díospóireacht seo anocht. I have read through the report of the interdepartmental group on Dublin city and the task force recommendation. Pardon me if I am beginning to wonder if I am getting mixed up here. I see a reference to OPW management and a transfer. I do not see a mention of privatisation so if there is another document, can somebody please send it to me? I see a reference to Government offices and public services.

In the spirit of, or in reference to, culture and a possible use, the following is a suggestion that has been put to me by Mr. Evan Connon, a neighbour who is a master craftsman in the area of stained glass. The suggestion is that the GPO may be used as an Irish academy and house of fine art similar to Stockholm and the École des Beaux-Arts en Paris. Something like this would be an appropriate use when we think of the poets' rebellion of 1916. It would revolutionise art education in Ireland. It would give us an institution that would rally our national pride and our identity and it would be a catalyst for regeneration of the north inner city.

If we think of the connection to stained glass, the Harry Clarke studio that was founded on North Frederick Street and that mini-studio incorporated into the Hugh Lane Gallery, perhaps that is a fitting suggestion for a hybrid that would encompass the objectives of all Members of the Dáil.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this motion this evening. To start, we all have to honour, respect and remember those leaders, men and women who fought for our country in 1916 and around that time, including during the Civil War, and all those who died along the way so we could be here having our own democratic Parliament. Everyone is entitled to talk and say what they believe in here.

My ideal for the GPO would be to maintain it as far as possible and to modernise and develop it. I am sure we need to keep some section of a post office there as part of what it was at that time and to maintain much of what is there. I know it has to be modernised but we should develop it into a modern-type visitor centre where we would attract all our own people, including those from all over the world wherever they have gone to. It would be an attraction for all those who learn going to school what those leaders went through. I do not think it should be commercialised by any entity but the State should have some kind of heritage things there. Whatever way the State could help to fund and maintain it would be fine but selling some other commercial stuff would not be in line with remembering it as it was.

It is sad to see people fighting here over what should be done with it. We should try to work together to ensure it is nice and that the people who fought there in 1916 are remembered properly.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Tá Ard-Oifig an Phoist ar cheann de na foirgnimh is cáiliúla in Éirinn. Tá a fhios ag gach duine sa Teach seo cén fáth. Deirim i gcónaí le turasóirí chun dul chuig Músaem Ard-Oifig an Phoist i mBaile Átha Cliath. Foghlaimíonn siad faoi stair na hÉireann, ón Éirí Amach go dtí an lá atá inniu ann. Cloisim na rudaí sa nuacht faoi láthair. Céard faoi réiteach cruthaitheach? Caithfear an stair a choimeád agus a chruthú.

The GPO is not just a building. It is the beating heart of our country's revolutionary history. The worrying thing for my constituents, when they reached out to me when I knocked on doors at the weekend, was the vagueness of the plans. I welcome what the Minister of State said in this House today but we need to be clearer when we are making statements about the GPO. It is really shocking to these people, especially people who are really concerned about our history, which is all of us. People are worried and rightly so. Má táim chun caint faoi rud éigin i mBaile Átha Cliath thuaidh, is gá dom caint faoin tsráid timpeall an chúinne, Sráid an Mhúraigh. I really welcome the recent decision by Dublin City Council to back the State's purchase of Moore Street. I went to Moore Street and spoke to the campaigners. They have been campaigning for 25 years to preserve it and they should not have had to do that. It is a site of immense historical significance.

Dublin has enough shops. We need to give spaces for the arts and spaces where people can come into the city and nurture our history. The GPO and Moore Street should not be sold off. They should be protected, preserved and passed on to future generations.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The GPO is the hallowed place where our republic was born. It is our GPO, a witness to our struggle, sacrifice and Rising. However, there are many aspects of our fight for freedom that also need to be recognised.

My grandfather was James Feely. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers in Boyle, County Roscommon, and a commander of the IRA in north Roscommon. He was imprisoned during the War of Independence, released after the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and he was one of the first gardaí in our State. Our family is very proud of his role in the War of Independence and his role as a garda, setting up the institutions of the State, defending them and protecting our people, which is continued many years on by the brave men and women of An Garda Síochána.

I have his statement from the Bureau of Military History here. In one aspect of it, it says:

In 1914, a company of the Irish Volunteers was formed in Boyle and I joined them. The company was about 100 strong, but about 40 of them went to the British Army when the first Great War started.

[...]

When Redmond finally split the Volunteers by recommending the Volunteers to take service in the British Army, all but a dozen men went over to the Redmondite side and became members of the new Irish National Volunteers.

Of the 100 men who were marching for the Irish Volunteers, 88 went to fight in the First World War and 12 remained. My grandfather was on the pro-Treaty side. Some 200,000 men went to fight, and the reasons for enlisting varied from poverty and a sense of duty to supporting Home Rule, which was postponed due to the First World War.

Up to 50,000 Irishmen died in the First World War and the rest who survived were treated with disrespect and airbrushed out of history. They were patriotic to Ireland and many were family, friends and colleagues of those in the GPO and those fighting for freedom. We have a duty to remember that, and like the GPO heritage, it should be respected. Their sacrifices and patriotism to Ireland should not be forgotten.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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On 6 April last year, Simon Harris, then the Taoiseach in waiting, made a clear commitment to convene a Dublin city centre task force bringing together the council, retailers, business, community groups and An Garda Síochána to chart a path towards a safer and more vibrant Dublin. He delivered on that commitment. The city task force was established, chaired by David McRedmond, and one of its most important proposals was to make the redevelopment of the GPO the centrepiece of revitalising O'Connell Street and the surrounding area. Last week, for the first time in decades, Dublin city centre received the kind of focused attention it has long needed, thanks to the task force Simon Harris established. The city centre can and should be clean, safe and vibrant, a capital we are all proud of.

The Government announcement includes a commitment to additional investment and to the redevelopment of the GPO as an ambitious and historic flagship project. In my view, that project should be nothing less than a world-class historical museum honouring the legacy of the GPO while breathing new life into the heart of our capital. Year one of the roadmap for delivery includes a clear commitment to conceptualise and decide on the future use of the reimagined GPO. That process will be led by the OPW, with support from a new special-purpose vehicle under Dublin City Council to drive delivery. The interdepartmental report published alongside the roadmap makes clear a detailed proposal for the future use of the GPO will be developed by the OPW and submitted for approval by the Government in due course.

Let us be clear. The sacrifices of the men and women who stood in the GPO in 1916, ordinary people who laid the foundations for the freedom we enjoy today, deserve better than to be dragged into a cynical and false debate manufactured by Sinn Féin to divide and distract. Drop the charade. Let us work together for the betterment of our capital city and for a GPO redevelopment that lives up to its history and to our hopes for the future.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I want to start by thanking all Members for the contributions to this discussion. The Government is absolutely committed to the redevelopment of the GPO complex as an ambitious flagship project and plans are well under way for the refurbishment of the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street. It is our commitment to honour the men and women and indeed the children of 1916. It is our ambition to create a commemorative centre marking the 1916 Rising and the historic time period that it was.

I rise today to defend not just the policies of this Government but the integrity of our approach to the preservation and the commemoration of our shared history. It is a history that includes the heroism and the sacrifice of the men and women of 1916, stories that many of us know well today, but stories we want not only to preserve and celebrate but ones we want to make accessible to the coming generations here in Ireland and those who visit.

Let me say at the very outset, the Government unequivocally honours the legacy of the 1916 Rising. We are deeply committed to the preservation of the General Post Office and Moore Street, not merely as some sort of relics to our past but as living, enduring parts of our national story. I agree that this genuine commitment must be matched by responsibility and action, not grandstanding nor sloganeering. That is why I must directly address the Private Members' motion tabled by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald and her Sinn Féin colleagues. It is long on accusations but short on solutions, heavy with symbolism but light on substance. It accuses successive governments, and by implication this Government, of negligence and even of widespread destruction of a republican heritage. That claim is not just disingenuous; it is demonstrably false.

Let me put on the record exactly what we have done. First, this Government secured and preserved the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street. After years of delay, including under local authorities and political parties now making accusations, we purchased this site and undertook critical stabilisation and weatherproofing works. More than that, we have progressed the restoration and conservation of these historic premises and underground escape routes. We have advanced many of our programmes. This is what we want. We want to welcome people into this space, to invite them in to learn and hear from the lives gone before for the country that we have now. Unlike the vague and politicised vision Sinn Féin offers, our approach intends to be practical and, importantly, deliverable.

As for the GPO itself, let us be clear, it remains in full public ownership. It will remain a functioning post office for the time being. Its museums will remain open for the time being. Any redevelopment will preserve its central place in the cultural and historical fabric of the nation.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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For the time being.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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No part of the GPO has been sold off, no part is being desecrated and there is no secret deal. These are all myths, and worse, they are deliberate distractions from the real work of heritage preservation and essential urban renewal of a changing city.

What we propose is a respectful, imaginative redevelopment of the wider GPO complex, including its cultural, the retail and office spaces that complement and enhance the historical function of the site. In the same way as many other cities have blended modern purpose with historical preservation, we too can steward heritage and opportunity side by side. This vision is drawn from the Dublin city task force, the interdepartmental working group, years of public consultation, stakeholder engagement and architectural assessments. It is rooted in our NDP. It is not a whim or an afterthought; it is a clear national priority. Sinn Féin's position on the other hand is simply to freeze the GPO, turn Moore Street into a simple museum piece but offer no route to regeneration, no strategy for sustainability and no roadmap to funding or delivery.

Good heritage policy must be adaptive and thoughtful, not locked into ideology. Let me remind this House of our decade of centenaries, one of the most inclusive, thoughtful and commemorative programmes ever undertaken by any government in the history of the State. We marked the 1916 Rising with respect, balance and dignity. We honoured all those who took part, from the volunteers to Cumann na mBan to those who died defending our city and our country.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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And the Black and Tans.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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We commissioned the 1916 exhibition in the GPO which is now visited by thousands each year. We funded heritage grants across every county and we engaged with young people, artists, veterans and communities in every corner of Ireland. We made sure these commemorations belong not to any one party or ideology but to the Irish people as a whole. That, I believe, is what real respect looks like. It is what honouring the past looks like.

My own great-grandfather fought in 1916. He helped to take Enniscorthy town. He was taken to Frongoch and to London for further questioning and examination. He fought for this country. My family knows the history of our own family and the fight for our freedom. By the way, Enniscorthy lasted until Easter Monday. We celebrate every Easter Monday, in a very honourable and respectful manner, what our forefathers and foremothers fought for.

Let us contrast this with the language of Sinn Féin's motion today, language like "wanton destruction", "negligent" oversight and "alarm at the plans". These are all sloganeering designed for social media bites, not for honouring our history or our heritage. These are not phrases of stewardship but ones of division. No one has a monopoly of the memory of 1916. No one political party owns the Rising, certainly not the Provisional Sinn Féin, a party founded in 1970. No one group can speak as the sole voice for the battlefield sites of Moore Street or the historic heart of the GPO.

This Government's countermotion makes our position clear. We affirm the historic status of the GPO as the site where the Proclamation was read aloud to the entire world. We recognise its enduring role since 1818 as a hub of communication and civic life and we endorse the development of 14-17 Moore Street into a state-of-the-art visitor centre. We commit to keeping the GPO in public hands, operational and active, and we include this work in our NDP and to creating a sustainable city. We do not want it to be preserved in name only, not with shuttered units or derelict facades. We want it to thrive as a cultural quarter and as a place of commerce, life and local pride where the living city meets its revolutionary soul. We do not seek to replace history with retail. We seek to ensure history is honoured in a way that is real, accessible and embedded in our urban future.

Let us live up to the vision of an Ireland rooted in democracy, shaped by dialogue and proud of its past without being trapped by it. Let us remember the words of the Proclamation still echoing through the columns of the GPO, "Cherishing all the children of the nation equally." That includes cherishing their history but it is also about building their future. That is the Government's commitment and that is my commitment.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Deputy Geoghegan called this a "charade". Ouch; that really hurt. I ask for respect.

For what died the sons, and probably daughters, of Róisín? Luke Kelly wrote the poem on the 50th anniversary of the Rising in 1966. It reflected on where Ireland had arrived since Easter 1916. It was a lament of the direction this nation took, opting to shift towards a dominant capitalist society, often at the expense of our cultural identity and social well-being. Sixty years hence, the shift has solidified, arriving today at the "For Sale" sign posted outside the GPO. It is an insulting attack on our national identity and an erosion of our cultural heritage and sense of ourselves - who we are, what our build is and what our make-up is like.

For what indeed died the sons of Róisín? For "the faceless men who for Mark and Dollar betray her to the highest bidder". The Government welcomed, encouraged and relied on the hedge funds and created a market that has gone completely bonkers. Foreign investors now hold hundreds of billions in property and our resources with no restrictions and no tax. We have sold enough of Ireland to be but strangers in it. We see the consequences all around us. Some 15,000 people are homeless. Rents are skyrocketing. Lives are being lived precariously as homes become commodities. Did the Government ever stop to ask what it has done? It has given the elites what they ask for. It has bended the knee to the god of profit and damned the people of no property. The members of the Government would almost sell their own grannies. That is the word on the street and that is what the Government needs to be careful of.

Who owns this country? What are the Government's priorities for this nation? The rule of the wealthy has been imposed on the people, who are the owners of this nation. Our national treasure, Kilmainham Gaol, was let go. It nearly went to rubble until good volunteers, both men and women, stormed the gates in the 1960s and took it back. The Government will not do the same to the GPO so it should not think about it. It should say it is sorry and put its hands up yet again.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The people do not trust the Government to honour the patriot dead, the men and women and their families. Those families must be remembered. The volunteers and heroes died but their families had to live on through the pain and suffering. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have disrespected those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Minister comes in here and talks about turning it into a retail space. My God, man. It is the heart and soul of the Irish people and of this country. Does the Government not understand what it means to the ordinary men, women and children in the street?

Right now, tens of thousands of Irish people are emigrating to the four corners of the world. The one thing they all know is that on Easter weekend of 1916, Irishmen and Irishwomen stood up and fought, and led a cause for Irish freedom. Pádraig Pearse stood on the steps of the GPO, read one of the greatest documents in the history of the world - I am not exaggerating - and outlined the vision that he and his comrades had. The Government is talking about turning the GPO into a retail space.

Dr. Kathleen Lynn, another lady the Government has tried to erase from history, wrote in her diary about the men who were shot following the 1916 Rising: "God bless them, they did not fear to die for Ireland". This Government would do well to remember that.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Ba chóir go mbeadh náire ar an Rialtas seo as an méid atá á dhéanamh aige. The Government's attitude to the GPO is part of a long history of failure in respect of O'Connell Street, its history and heritage. The street where the Irish Republic was declared and where the workers of Dublin fought the Dublin Metropolitan Police, DMP, during the 1913 Lock-out has now been taken over by fast-food chains, litter, dereliction, crime and drug-dealing. Despite the protestations we have heard from Ministers and Government representatives, the truth is that there is a litany of examples of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael destroying, neglecting and ignoring our republican and revolutionary heritage.

The GPO, as the headquarters of the Easter 1916 Rising, should be part of an historic and cultural quarter that would include the entire Moore Street 1916 battlefield, as proposed by Sinn Féin. If anyone wants a reminder that these parties do not value our history, it is the fact that Thomas Clarke's shop at the top of O'Connell Street is now a Londis. Who knows what commercial premises will be in the GPO if the Government gets its way?

For all the Government's practical approaches, I ask the Minister to contemplate the following. On O'Connell Street, Ireland's main street, the site of the GPO where the Irish Republic, still unfulfilled, was declared, there is not one statue to an Irish republican leader, including the 1916 leaders. In any other capital city, the GPO, an historic building so centrally located, would be the site of a state-of-the-art museum charting the struggle for Irish freedom and independence. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are content to turn it into a glorified shopping centre. For all the Minister's propositions, he may back down now because he will not get away with it. Republicans the length and breadth of Ireland will battle to save-----

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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It is about the fifth time it has been referred as being like a shopping centre.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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-----the GPO and the Moore Street site.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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That is furthest from the truth of what it is.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Where else in the world would a building from which a rebellion was led and from which the independence of a country in its entirety was proclaimed be the subject of an attempt by the government of the day to get rid of that historic tradition by having the commercialisation of the building as its mainstay? Would the French commercialise the Bastille? This is one of the proudest buildings in our history, our fight against colonialism and our Proclamation as a nation to the world. A building which bears such significance should be treated as the national historic monument it is.

Some people have said here this evening they are shocked that the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, would make such a commitment. Having seen his record and heard his words in this House, I am not shocked one bit. Is it not telling that as Fianna Fáil heads into its centenary year, it chooses the commercialisation of the GPO as its flagship celebration? Perhaps it is so clear the Proclamation of 1916 has not been fulfilled that there is a sense of embarrassment within the Government. As the conversation on Irish unity and self-determination continues to grow, the Government continues to hide from the issue.

The Proclamation stated: "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible." It did not exclude a certain section of Ireland or its people. It is quite clear that anywhere else in the world, the GPO would be a national historic museum, as it should be.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí ar fad a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht seo agus leo siúd san Áiléar atá ag féachaint ar an díospóireacht. Is léir go bhfuil gá le díospóireacht agus tá sé go maith go raibh díospóireacht againn sa Teach. Is trua go raibh orainn díospóireacht a dhéanamh de bharr an chacamais a tháinig as béal Mhicheál Martin. Tá deis againn díriú isteach ar an gceist seo.

We have an opportunity. We should be considering the future use of the GPO. That debate should have started in this Chamber when An Post decided it was pulling out of the offices in the GPO. What has been presented thus far has shown, as Deputy Gannon said, a failure of imagination. We have set out our ambitious and unapologetically patriotic vision for the GPO. The Government has not done that thus far. I appeal to it to stop fumbling in the greasy till and adding the halfpence to the pence, and encourage it to embrace the vision of a vibrant, visionary, inspirational, cultural, historical and artistic quarter, not just in the GPO but also in the area of the Moore Street battlefield.

I ask the Government to correct history. The national monument now comprises 14-17 Moore Street but at one stage, until a previous Government went to court, the national monument comprised the whole terrace. The Government was forced to expand beyond 16 Moore Street, which it had first, only because of public pressure to include 14-17, and part of 18. The Government has denied 10 Moore Street. There is a whole load of other inaccuracies.

Enniscorthy did hold out. It did not hold out until Easter Monday, but until the Monday after Easter Monday. Let us remember that Easter Monday was the date the Rising started. The Rising did not finish in Enniscorthy on the day it started; it continued thereafter. There is a whole load of other inaccuracies. Sinn Féin was founded in 1905. I am sorry, but that is even before Fianna Fáil. Maybe the Minister does not know that history.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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That was not the same-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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There is a whole range of other aspects. The one concerning Kilmainham was corrected by my party colleague Deputy Máire Devine. The State was forced to act because the people moved in. It is the same in terms of Moore Street and many other places around the country that this and previous Governments sought to destroy. I urge people to support this.

Outside the debate tonight, I urge the Government to rethink this, sit down and embrace other ideas. I was one of those on the Moore Street advisory committee and the centenary committee. In fact, I was one of those, like many other Deputies, who put forward many imaginative ideas, some of which were accepted and some of which were not. I was not hurt by that. I am hurt, though, by the fact that Micheál Martin thinks he can put first-class retail units into the GPO. I am sorry, I cannot have that.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the next weekly division time tomorrow evening.