Sinn Féin spokesperson on Culture, Arts and Heritage Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has said it is wrong for Ministers Darragh O’Brien and Malcolm Noonan to spin the final Moore Street Report as an endorsement of the Hammerson plan for the site. 

The Dublin South Central TD also expressed concern over the process by which the Moore Street Report Securing History 3 was concluded. 

Speaking today, Teachta Ó Snodaigh said:

“Despite the spin being put on it by Ministers O’Brien and Noonan, the Moore Street report published today is not an endorsement of a Hammerson planning application, which we have yet to see.

“Members of the Moore Street Advisory Group, including myself, expressed grave concern about many aspects of the Hammerson plan, and this is reflected in the report. 

“We do not support the proposed break in the terrace 10-25 Moore Street, the demolition of key buildings, or the removal of the original line of the lanes and premises where the 1916 GPO garrison occupied, fought and died. 

“We opposed the inclusion in the report of the unsubstantiated claims of Hammerson – a company in serious financial difficulty – about the scale of investment, and the number of jobs allegedly involved in their plan, which is purely speculative.

“We raised these and other important points with the Chairperson of the Moore Street Advisory Group again in the final stages of drafting, yet many of our proposed amendments were not included in the report. 

“The report was to include members’ submissions. But many of these have not been included and a number of points in the report remain unamended, despite the MSAG’s agreement.

“Worryingly, concerns over the last-minute revelation by one MSAG member that he and others hold a lease on Number 16 Moore Street have not been included. 

“We have not been shown the terms of this lease, which could have implications for the future use of the National Monument 14-17 Moore Street.”