Plans to build a commemorative centre at Padraic Pearse Cottage, in Rosmuc, Connemara, Co Galway, have been deferred, according to the organisers of an Easter rally at the cottage yesterday.
Organised to honour the instigators of the 1916 Easter Rising, a protest was held at the rally over the decision by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to "review" the plans for a visitor centre at the cottage.
Údarás na Gaeltachta board member, Mr Seosamh Ó Cuaig, explained that €1.2 million in funding had been announced in March 2002, with Údarás committed to augmenting this amount.
The proposed centre would incorporate a reception area, an exhibition audio visual facility and tea room and was to have been open for business by 2004. However, the project is now part of a review being carried out by the Department of Environment, and the OPW, and Mr Ó Cuaig fears it will never get off the ground.
He said the project would have enhanced the cottage as well as acknowledging the richness of local culture. "This is not simply a cutback, it means a change in the National Development Plan, as the €1.2 million allocated was part of the plan. It is very disturbing," said Mr Ó Cuaig.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, has confirmed that he had engaged in discussions regarding this matter and that he was hopeful of a positive outcome.
Mr Ó Cuaig said yesterday: "All of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, except for James Connolly, visited the cottage and the centre would have provided an intelligent presentation of the life of Pearse and his connections with Rosmuc, the Gaeltacht and the fight for freedom." Pearse first came to Rosmuc in 1903.
