Sinn Fein has drafted legislation aimed at saving the buildings where leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising staged their final stand.
Moore Street in Dublin city centre is part of a redevelopment plan worth €1.25 billion (£1.1 billion) that would see the old Carlton cinema site and surrounding area changed into office, residential and retail outlets.
Campaigners have said the plan would have a devastating impact on 16 Moore Street and adjacent buildings used as the final headquarters of the provisional government after rebel leaders fled the General Post Office during the Easter Rising.
Yesterday Dublin South Central Sinn Fein TD Aengus O Snodaigh launched the Local Government (Planning and Development) (Amendment) Bill 2009 which is designed to safeguard the buildings.
“The significance of 16 Moore Street and its surrounding buildings in Irish historical terms cannot be underestimated,” he said.
“It would be an absolute travesty if these buildings were to be demolished as part of the plans to develop this quarter.
“In most other countries the destruction of such a site would be unthinkable yet we are faced with a very grave threat to this site despite it being named as a national monument.
“Sinn Fein has proposed the development of a historical and cultural quarter at this site to be associated with the 1916 Rising and linked to the GPO on O’Connell Street.”
Sinn Fein has no Dail slot to table a private member’s bill so it is calling on opposition parties to share their time to put forward its bill.
The Republic’s planning authority, An Bord Pleanala, has been holding hearings on the development plan.
The board heard this week that the proposed measures could have an adverse impact on many protected structures in the area.
The developer, Chartered Land, said the plan would make a “positive” contribution to the city.
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