Moore Street, the site of a 1916 Rising battlefield, may become a shopping mall in the future.

Minister of Heritage Jimmy Deenihan is waiting for a formal environmental assessment before proceeding with plans to build a mall, which would include a commemorative center on Moore Street, according to TheJournal.ie.

The buildings and surrounding area of 14 to 16 Moore Street were a battleground and significant garrison of the Provincial Government, who had declared Irish independence at the start of Easter week 1916. In these buildings the outnumbered rebel leaders of the Provincial Government decided to surrender to better equipped British forces to prevent further loss of life. A preservation order had been placed on the buildings in 2007 and no changes can be made to the buildings without ministerial consent.

Planning permission for the site has been granted by the Dublin City Council and confirmed by An Bord Pleanala, which handles planning appeals. 

Not everyone is on board with the new project. Gerry Adams has criticized the Irish government for its disappointing response to the Sinn Fein led movement to protect Moore Street. Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail, with several TD’s in the Dail, made a motion back in May to protect the site further so it would become a historical and cultural center in the future in accordance with its important place in national history. Actress Fionnula Flanagan agrees that Moore Street should have more protection.

Deenihan said in the Dail yesterday that he had visited Moore Street and several interest groups, including some relatives of the 1916 leaders. He said, “I need to adjudicate on a national monument and determine whether it would fulfill the function of properly recognising the people who occupied that building in 1916 where the final war council decision was made to surrender.”

Adams has said that the commercialism of a mall deeply clashes with the ideas expressed in the Proclamation of the Republic. The Proclamation, read by leader Padraig Pearse to Irish citizens at the beginning of Easter Week, declared the sovereignty of the Irish Republic, religious and civil liberties, and equal opportunity for its citizens.

No changes can be made to the buildings without the express consent of Deenihan. “He said he was ‘acutely aware’ that the ‘massively important historical site’ is brought up to a standard befitting the centenary commemorations in 2016.”

No definitive plans have been made regarding the future of Moore Street.