Sudden U-turn on 18 Moore Street purchase

The State announced some time ago that it had purchased The National Monument at no 14-17 Moore Street with a plan to develop a 1916 Commemoration Centre there.

The four derelict buildings were purchased for €4 million and it will take a further €5m to restore them. No details of this extraordinary purchase have been made available.

While this in itself is curious, it is now reported that the State has also part purchased no.18 Moore Street — a building that, according to Minister Humphreys and her officials, has no historical or architectural merit whatsoever.

What possible interest has the State in a building that they dismiss as a ‘post 1916’ structure — a claim disputed by campaigners and refuted by the developers’ own conservation report on the Moore Street battlefield?

More importantly, upon what basis did the State decide to extend public funding towards its purchase and at what cost?

Proinsias Ó Rathaille

1916 Relatives Centenary Initiative

Oxford Road

Ranelagh

Dublin 6