By Mícheál Mac Donncha
If the 1916 Rising was a short war, the battle for the place where it ended—Moore Street—could be described as a very long war indeed.
It was reported in mid-July 2025 that Hammerson, the British-based property company that owns most of the Moore Street 1916 battlefield site, was considering selling it. This followed the High Court’s granting to the Moore Street Preservation Trust of leave to seek judicial review of Hammerson’s planning permission as granted by An Bord Pleanála. A date for the hearing of the case will not be set until October 2025.
Whether the media reports of Hammerson considering selling its prime city-centre site were ‘inspired’ or not, there has always been speculation that the company, having obtained planning permission, might ‘flip’ (sell on) the site, as the previous owner did, a practice not exactly unknown among property speculators. A further complication is the High Court challenge by Hammerson to Dublin City Council after councillors voted to add Moore Street buildings to the Record of Protected Structures. Hammerson is challenging the procedure, which the council is set to defend robustly. The buildings in question, in the 10–25 Moore Street terrace, were occupied by the GPO garrison after they evacuated there at the end of Easter Week.
Numbers 14–17 Moore Street, where the leaders of the Rising met and decided on surrender, was declared a National Monument in 2007 and purchased by the Irish government in 2015. Restoration of the buildings and the development of a commemorative centre were promised for the centenary in 2016 but they are still awaited. In July 2025, Minister of State with Responsibility for Heritage Christopher O’Sullivan TD visited the National Monument site and promised progress on the project.
The minister’s visit followed that of a newly formed Moore Street Oireachtas group, including TDs Mary Lou McDonald, Gary Gannon, Marie Sherlock, Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Senator Mary Fitzpatrick. The cross-party group said that they ‘recognised the responsibility of elected representatives to act as guardians of the National Monument at 14–17 Moore Street, the place where the leaders of the Easter Rising met for the last time’.
The group say that they will champion safeguarding, protecting and preserving the 1916 Moore Street battlefield and surrounding areas and that their aims are in keeping with the recommendations of the ministerial advisory group and the findings of the Dublin Inner City Task Force Report. That last-named report sparked controversy when Taoiseach Mícheál Martin spoke of changes to the GPO with more ‘office and retail’ going in, evoking visions for many of a shopping mall behind the columns where the Irish Republic was proclaimed. However, the Task Force Report and the government road-map for implementation are short on detail and it is likely that, inextricably linked as it is to the Moore Street battlefield, the GPO’s future will likewise ultimately depend on political decisions about how our history should be cherished.
The need for political decisions will take centre stage very quickly if Hammerson does decide to sell the site. In that case there would be huge pressure on the government to purchase. Indeed, it may well be that no other buyers would be found, given the planning, legal and political battles in which the site has been mired so deeply for so long.
In considering its options, the government might look again at a submission from within its own system back in 2021. There were nearly 300 submissions from individuals and groups to Dublin City Council on the Hammerson planning applications and the vast majority were objections. Very significantly, Connor Rooney of the Development Applications Unit, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, submitted detailed observations and recommendations which, if adhered to by Dublin City Council planners, would have ruled out permission for much of the Hammerson plan. The Department pointed to the architectural and historic significance of buildings that Hammerson wish to demolish, including 1–8 Moore Street and 38 Henry Street. It stated:
‘The Department is of the opinion that the extent of demolition of all or part of these two terraces of early 20th-century buildings is unwarranted. These are fine buildings of their time, form an important part of the urban streetscape of the city centre and appear to be largely intact both internally and externally. They also have historical significance as part of the reconstruction of Dublin City immediately after the Easter Rising of 1916 … The Department believes that many of the landmark buildings on this site are capable of refurbishment and adaptation and recommends that the planning authority should consider whether an alternative design of the redevelopment of this site would allow for the retention and sensitive adaptation for reuse of significant existing structures.’
Mícheál Mac Donncha is a Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor, former lord mayor and secretary of the Moore Street Preservation Trust.