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Ongoing efforts to save last rebel HQ

The roof of 16 Moore Street in August 2005. Temporary roofing has since been installed. (Dominic Dunne)

Since our report on the threatened demolition of 16 Moore Street, the final HQ of the 1916 leadership (HI 11.2, Summer 2003), the building has remained standing. However, despite a lengthy campaign by conservationists, historians and a growing number of public representatives, its future is still uncertain. Late in 2005 a special report commissioned by Dublin City Council from architects Shaffrey and Associates and local historian John Montague recommended that the building and its neighbours be placed on the Record of Protected Structures. The report was subsequently endorsed at a Council meeting, and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche, also issued a statement welcoming the report. However, nearly two months later (at the time of going to press) the Council management has yet to declare the building protected, and the minister has not responded to calls to exercise his powers under existing legislation to make it a national monument. Even if No. 16 is not demolished the house will require extensive renovation. Because of an ongoing legal dispute between the Council and property developer Paul Clinton it was allowed to become derelict. In August 2005 campaigners, inspecting the building from outside, noticed that most of the roof tiles, still in place in 2004, had disappeared, leaving the interior dangerously exposed to the elements. Following a flurry of publicity, temporary roofing was installed. It is hoped that the terrace from No. 14 to No. 17 will be properly restored, and a number of commentators have stated that it could serve as an interpretative centre for the centenary of the Rising, in 2016.