Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 May 2021
168. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on the meeting of Minister of State Malcolm Noonan with a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29075/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis meeting is noted in my official diary, and that of the Minister for Housing, Local Government, and Heritage both of which are published on my Department’s website.
As the Ministers responsible for Town Centres First, Heritage and Urban Renewal policy, Minister O’Brien and I were pleased to receive a presentation from Hammerson of its plans for the regeneration of a very significant portion of the principal street of our capital city and of a hugely rundown area of the adjacent north inner city of Dublin. The site in question, which stretches from the former Carlton Cinema on O’Connell Street to Moore Street, has suffered decades of dereliction and decay with the market traders on Moore Street now facing an existential crisis with their future on the street.
Hammerson has appointed a highly qualified and experienced team of international heritage and architectural experts to draw up the regeneration proposals which, as presented, envisage the retention of a significantly enlarged portfolio of pre-1916 fabric and buildings by comparison to anything previously envisaged. The new plans take account of the unique character and history of the area and include a suite of measures to acknowledge, respect and record the seismic events that occurred in and around Moore Street during Easter Week 1916 and the people who were involved.
I am aware that the company has made the same presentation, which also envisages the creation of up to 8,600 jobs, along with the delivery of significant numbers of new residential units, to the Moore Street Advisory Group (MSAG). The MSAG was established to liaise with stakeholders, including 1916 Relatives, street traders and Hammerson itself, to broker agreed solutions for the renewal of the area that would be sympathetic to its culture, history and traditions.
The MSAG has recently presented its final report to Minister O’Brien and I, putting forward a number of important recommendations on how the street and its market could be rejuvenated and how the national monument buildings at Nos. 14 – 17 could be presented to the public as a 1916 Commemorative Centre. The Deputy’s own party was formally represented on the MSAG by Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
The report makes it clear that the MSAG is supportive of the Hammerson plan ‘as it now stands’ on the basis that it ‘preserves the urban heritage whilst simultaneously attempting to consider the need for modernisation in a culturally and historically sensitive manner’ . The report also finds that Hammerson’s current proposals ‘adequately, properly and respectfully acknowledge the role of the area during the 1916 Rising’. I am pleased that Hammerson has engaged constructively with the MSAG and that it has taken the views of the Advisory Group on board in formulating the new plans.
The MSAG has also given a clear recommendation for work on the State owned National Monument buildings to recommence as soon as is possible. Officials from my Department are liaising with the Office of Public Works in this regard and will be considering the report of the Irish Heritage Trust, which was tasked on behalf of the MSAG by my Department, with coming up with recommendations, in that context.
The report of the MSAG has been noted by Cabinet.
