SAOIRSE32

Irish News
20 Jan 09

HISTORIC SITE: Padraig Pearse, the wounded James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Joseph Plunkett and Sean Mac Dermott staged their final stand at 16 Moore Street after tunnelling their way from the GPO a week after the 1916 Easter Rising rocked Dublin

A great grandson of a 1916 Easter Rising leader has made an appeal for help to Northern Ireland in a bid to safeguard a Dublin city centre building he argues played a key role in the rebellion.

Campaigners fear that 16 Moore Street – the final headquarters of the Provisional Government – could soon undergo irreversible alterations as part of €1.2 billion (£1bn) redevelopment plan for the city centre.

They reacted with dismay when Dublin City Council voted to sell 24 and 25 Moore Street last November to Longford-based developer Joe O’Reilly for €12 million (£11m).

The two buildings are part now part of the Carlton Development project with plans to transform the area by constructing new retail outlets, apartments and offices.

Jim Connolly-Heron – great grandson of James Connolly – last night urged the Northern Ireland public to voice their opposition to major construction work around what he said should be considered one of Ireland’s most precious heritage sites.

“If these plans go ahead it will effectively mean the demise of a national monument,” he said.

“There is a preservation order on 16 Moore Street which means the building should not be altered.

“We want people to write to An Bord Pleanala [the Republic’s planning authority] registering their objection to the proposal by way of an observation or submission by the February 17 deadline. They would also have to include a E50 (£45.50) fee.”

Mr Connolly-Heron has called on the authorities to ensure that the GPO, Moore Street and Henry Place be preserved as a historic quarter.

The National Graves Association (NGA), which maintains historic sites across Ireland, has backed the call from Mr Connolly-Heron.

NGA spokesman Matt Doyle – whose organisation has dubbed the building ‘the Irish Alamo’ – said campaigners were depending on individuals and groups with an interest in Irish heritage to get behind the campaign.

“If these buildings were in any other city in the world this precious monument would be preserved,” he said.

“The men and women of the Easter Rising took on the might of the British empire.

“With the 1916 centenary commemorations coming up its time for ordinary people to take on the might of the developers and Dublin City Council.”

Padraig Pearse, the wounded James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Joseph Plunkett and Sean Mac Dermott staged their final stand at 16 Moore Street after tunnelling their way from the GPO a week after the 1916 Easter Rising rocked the city.