Concern for Pádraig Pearse's final letter of surrender which looks set to leave Ireland

Concerns are being raised that Pádraig Pearse's final letter of surrender is set to leave Ireland.

The hand written document - which calls for the surrender of rebel forces during the Easter Rising - is currently on display at the GPO.

It will be sold by auction this Wednesday and is expected to fetch more than one million euro.

The Government has indicated it is not going to make a bid for the letter - saying it would not be the best use of taxpayers' money.

James O'Halloran - Managing Director of Adam Auctioneers - says it is disappointing: "The concern I supose that we have is that most of the interest that has been expressed in it, so far has been abroad.

"The current owner, the person who bought it from us back in 2005, is non-irish and lives outside of the country and if it doesn’t sell he had indicated to us that he will be taking it out of the country."