A Sinn Fein motion will be put to a vote in the Dáil next week to save and restore Dublin’s Moore Street, the most important 1916 battlefield site.

Local Deputy Seán Crowe said that the site is in imminent danger of demolition and his parties motion seeks to conserve and secure the area as a vital part of our national heritage. Crowe went on to describe the area as the cradle of Ireland’s revolution .

The motion, which will be taken during Sinn Féin Private Members’ time in the Dáil on Tuesday and Wednesday night, has been supported by other members of the Oireachtas. It was actually drafted by descendants of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, who have been campaigning to save the site for over ten years.

Crowe whose Grandfather Patrick was in republican Fianna scouts at the time and a Tan War Veteran said:

“Moore Street in Dublin and the laneways between it with the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, form the most important battlefield site in modern Irish history. It is on this street and in the laneways behind it that the course of Irish history was changed in Easter Week 1916.

“Parts of the area is currently like an open sewer and it is constant reminder of the failure of successive Governments to appreciate and honour the sacrifice of these brave men and women visionaries of 1916.

“With the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising fast approaching, the cause of conserving and securing this site is even more urgent and the families of the heroic men and women of 1916 who have been campaigning on this important issue deserve our full and active support.

“The site needs to be restored and could used to teach the present and future generations about the ideals, aspirations and events of 1916. It also has huge global historical, cultural and tourism potential,” he added.

“I am calling on the people of Dublin South West to support this important initiative.

The site is currently under imminent threat of demolition by Developer, Joe O’Reilly, who is seeking to obliterate the laneways and most of Moore Street, where the GPO garrison retreated to before surrender. Mr O’Reilly is one of NAMA’s biggest clients, and reportedly in debt to the tune of almost €3bn.

The motion calls on the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD, to refuse consent for the demolition of the buildings and laneways and to restore them fittingly before the actual Centenary of the Rising.