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COUNCILLORS IN DUBLIN reached a decision last night — of sorts.
They chose to postpone voting on a contentious ‘land swap’ deal at the historic 1916 Moore Street site.
It means that, if the vote goes ahead next month as planned, the proposed museum at the centre of the deal would be finished just two weeks ahead of Easter 2016.
Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, the Greens and People Before Profit had looked set to vote down the plan if the motion had gone ahead at last night’s monthly meeting — meaning it would have been defeated.
Instead, a decision was reached to have the Moore Street Advisory Committee — which has cross-party membership — meet with other members of the Council and listen to their concerns.
The Committee will then come forward with recommendations for the project, after consultation with city planners — according to Independent Councillor Nial Ring, who chairs the panel.
“Over 50 per cent of members on the Council are new, and they may not have been aware of the work of the Committtee,” Ring said.
He said the panel was “committed to coming back as early as possible” with recommendations, adding that it was essential the vote goes ahead next month.
In a nutshell, the land-swap plan would involve developers Chartered Land carrying out €9 million worth of restoration works to turn 14 to 17 Moore Street into a museum centre. Funding would come from NAMA.
The Council would then take over ownership of the museum.
In exchange, the local authority would hand over numbers 24 and 25 Moore Street — currently the location of a cleaning depot. It’s planned that land would be used for the development of a large-scale shopping centre.
The leaders of the 1916 Rising surrendered in the building at 14-17 Moore Street, which is also the site of where the provisional government was headquartered during the Rising. A large-scale commemoration is being planned for two years’ time to mark the 100th anniversary.
Those in favour of the project are arguing that it would represent positive progress in establishing a national monument, which could be enjoyed by the whole city in time for the centenary.
Those against say the entire terrace of Moore Street, between Henry Street and Parnell Street, should be preserved.
That said, it’s a pretty complicated issue, and the debate’s been ongoing for years.
Songwriter Pete St John, great grandson of James Connolly James Connolly Heron and spokesperson for the Save Moore Street Campaign, Patrick Cooney outside 16 Moore Street.
The decision to put the vote back for a month was taken after a number of councillors sought clarifications about the plan, Ring said.
While the museum project initially had a proposed deadline for completion of six weeks before the 2016 ceremony, the delay means the window between the two events shrinks to just two weeks.
“Obviously that’s very tight,” Ring said.
“All members of committee want a decision made one way or another.
My own personal view is that I would want something there for 2016.
Some councillors have raised concerns about plans for the shopping complex proposed for the rest of the block, and suggested a Temple Bar-style initiative should be set up to look at an overall plan for the area.
Speaking yesterday, the Greens’ Ciarán Cuffe said the prospect of British high street stores conducting business at a site “where patriots lost their lives 98 years ago is difficult to reconcile”.
Paul McAuliffe of Fianna Fáil said he wouldn’t want to see a “string of superpubs and McDonalds” on the street.
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The most fitting monument to what has been achieved by the successors to the 1916 rebels would be if we postponed the decision for another couple of months, so that it’s half-finished at the time of the centenary.
Then hand it over to the Catholic Church.
2016 will be interesting, war in Europe (again) , probably on our second referendum to vote yes to joining Nato after being rejected the first time and Enda will be on his bike around Dublin with Irish bonds under his coat looking to flog them
We should be in NATO anyway.
Are you for real weasel, NATO has a bad reputation and needs to be overhauled. We should have nothing to do with that organization.
* sorry meant wesole there, i didn’t mean to be rude.
That’s ok Phil, auto correct! NATO needs an overhaul, yes, but we need to abandon our faux neutrality stance, and join an organisation where our very capable armed forces can be put to better use. I’d argue that the UN is a much worse and more corrupt organisation than NATO.
The weasel won’t mind I’m sure!
NATO protected Europe from Soviet imperialism for 40 years, it has it’s problems but if we hadn’t got it we might be living in a very different Europe.
How would you like a 4 hour que for your local centra and when you get there there are no basic consumer goods? Or having the secret police knock on your door and drag you away in the middle of the night dumping you in a camp because you made a comment online that didn’t mesh with the parties ideology.
It’s easy for pampered brats to sit in the leafy suburbs of a free democratic country and pontificate about the evils of NATO but the only reason you have the freedom you do is NATOs members defending western Europe from Nazism and Communism.
They’re a different beast now Ryan.
As €X Million was spent on a useless piece of steel named ‘The Spire’ I would presume that some Million Euro would be spent upholding the history of Ireland. The article mentions that the preservation work would finish after Easter 2016 which seems to me ludicrous. Haven’t they heard of overtime and Project Managers. Its time to get the finger out lads and stop squabbling. Make a decision and make it fast! Time is not on your side!
Eh, Dorothy, most pieces of public sculpture have no function but our city would be a poorer place without them. Literally. For one thing, tourists would probably not come in such large numbers to a city without any public art, statues etc. It’s all part and parcel of ensuring a pleasant street-scape.
Dorothy … they are not concerned about finishing in time for 2016..they are concerned because the namad developer who owes 2.6 bm is been facilitated by DCC and they are doing this under the guise of a museum plan….if there is to be a museum ,surly it should be in conjunction with the national museum …under theis paln it is in conjunction with chartered lands developer Joe o reilly
Just a thought, but how about building an actual republic rather than a monument to a failed rebellion?
In 1916 the patriots were off in Europe fighting the Nazis.
Meanwhile a raggle-taggle band without democratic support decided to kick off 90 years of unrest and bloodshed. What’s to celebrate?
That’s the opinion of the blueshirt unionist wing of Fine Gael and no one else. Keep up the good work of reminding the electorate of the way the Bruton wing of FG thinks in the run up to the 1916 commemoration and the election that will take place immediately after it.
Nazis in 1916?
I’m just after realising you said they were off fighting the Nazis in 1916, seriously why bother commenting if your knowledge of history is that bad!
Hahahahah !
I wont be celebrating the Educational system for sure, there were definitely some kids left behind.
You’re right, what a ‘typo’.
Still, the Risers were allying themselves with the enemies of the Allies, who later went on to become the Nazis.
A foolish undemocratic gamble that resulted in a mess.
A few more years wait and pressure and home rule of the entire island was within our grasp. A key stepping stone to a geographic island Republic. And we still don’t have that.
An error is nothing to celebrate.
John have a little read about the Ulster Volunteers and their armaments to be used in opposition to Home Rule. It is pure and utter revisionist nonsense that we would have being granted Home Rule for the entire island and eventually a united Irish republic! History isn’t your strong point is it?
not nonsense at all pjm, you are simply speculating.
No member of the Rising would have bothered if they thought 100 years later, it still wasn’t a united Ireland. If only they knew.
I’m just speculating???? What the hell are you doing but speculating when saying a few more years Home Rule was within our grasp and then an all Ireland republic. I give up, you’re going around in circles and clearly waffling!
it isn’t speculating to say the Rising didn’t work.
it was the wrong thing for a tiny unsupported minority to do at the wrong time.
The only tyrants were the British here.
The same allies you support in WW2 have gone on to kill 120 million by the communists worldwide, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghan, and continuing slaughter of these people in the middle east and north Africa, Syrians, Libyans – it is not the nazis who have killed these people, it is not the nazis who hold Ireland, Greece in debt slavery, it is the allies and their masters of the tribe who control wall st, you know who they are.
What a dope!
Meant to be in reference to this comment ” In 1916 the patriots were off in Europe fighting the Nazis.” Ha-ha.
NAMA should strict to their sole purpose of getting as much money as possible from the sale of properties and land from bankrupt people including bankers who owe more than anybody else. To think they are funding developers on this derelict building is immoral and taxpayers deserve better from these people. They are now property speculators themselves. They must be laughing their heads off at the rest of the people in Ireland. If SF/IRA want to restore a building let them pay for it. We have no homes for poor people and this hobby of nationalism is costing lives through despair and hopelessness.
I’d encourage anyone who wants to read up in the history to include the Micheal Collins biographies I found them really amazing reads. They give loads of anec dotes from the inside of the GPO during the rising, you can’t help but laugh at some of it. One moment has Collins (who was only his his 20s what we’d consider a kid today) boyishly giggling as he breaks all the windows while an owl one in a shawl from one of the Dublin stalls looks on in horror ”would ye look at dem breakin all the lovely windez!!”
As they come in there is an RIC man there, he sees the guns and uniforms and figures ”I’m f___d”. He looks up at Collins as he’s being tied up ”please don’t shoot me”, Collins looks back at him ”I don’t shoot prisoners” and sticks him in one of the telephone boxes inside the GPO. When the exchanges of fire start he looks back in his direction later to see a bullet hole inches from the guys head as he ducks down. Collins goes back over to him ”…rrriiiight we’ll move you so…”
The whole thing looks like a right mess from the get go. It’s the market in Moore Street that needs preserving. The museum should be in the GPO or BOI on college green, not down some side street.
1916 – all for nothing
SO a Namad Developer is trying to get his Museum Plan (which is no more about a museum..its about getting his shopping mall ,which he is not allowed build unless he does this) pushed through the Council …we have the Chair of the advisory committee who is meant to be impartial also lobbying for this faild demolition plan .
Last night the vote was postponed ..In My opinion ,The reason the vote was postponed is because the Councillors were going to vote no to the land swap deal…where would that have left chartered lands supermarket plan ………up the creek …so what did the powers that be do…the postponed the vote
What a load of ?hite
This terrace of old Dublin is very historic,why the big rush to demolish part of it.This should be preserved for future generations.Have we learned nothing from the old celtic tiger about rushing into things.
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