More 1916 Moore Street buildings assessed for preservation

Dublin City Council is to engage consultants to assess if five more Moore Street buildings, believed to be associated with the 1916 Rising, should be added to the Record of Protected Structures.

However, the buildings are scheduled for demolition to make way for developer Joe O'Reilly's €1.25 billion Dublin Central shopping complex, and their protection could leave the council open to compensation claims.

Four houses on the street are already listed for protection. These are numbers 14-17 which were designated national monuments in 2007 because of their association with the Rising.

They date from about 1760 and were bought by the State for €4 million from Nama, which has control over the assets of Mr O'Reilly's company Chartered Land, for the creation of a 1916 commemorative centre.

However, last June city councillors voted to extend protection to five more buildings on the street against the advice of council management.

The buildings are the stables of the O'Brien's Mineral Water Building on Henry Place just off Moore Street, occupied by volunteers in 1916; the remains of the White House, also on Henry Place, which was occupied and held by Michael Collins; number 10 Moore Street; and the bottling stores at the rear of 10 Moore Street and Moore Lane.

Also included is the former Hanlon's premises at 20-21 Moore Street, the building where the surrender order was accepted by volunteers after consultation with Thomas Clarke, Joseph Plunkett, Collins and Seán Mac Diarmada.

The council has this week advertised for conservation architects to assess if these buildings should be given protected status.

In 2010, Chartered Land was granted planning permission for a shopping complex on a site stretching from the former Carlton cinema on O’Connell Street to Moore Street. Construction has not started and the permission will expire in 2017. The proposed commemorative centre buildings were already protected before planning permission was granted, but the five buildings now being assessed for protection had been scheduled for demolition.

Separately, these buildings, along with several others on the street, are also the subject of an ongoing High Court action taken on behalf of the 1916 Relatives Association.

Colm Moore, a nominee of the association, has taken the case against the Minister for Arts and Heritage to extend national monument status to a wider site linked to the Rising which includes part of Moore Street and Moore Lane.