The government has confirmed it is to acquire the National Monument at 14 - 17 Moore Street in Dublin.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD welcomed the decision and commended the relatives of the 1916 Leaders "without whose diligence this decision would never have been taken".

He said: "After years of dithering, and the publication of a very poor and widely criticised 2016 centenary programme, this decision is a step in the right direction.

"However, it is a very belated decision and fails to match the reality that this is one of the most important historic sites in modern Irish history. Under current plans, the rest of the terrace is to be demolished.

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"There is only one year to go before the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Rising. The government's failure to properly preserve the National Monument, the Terrace and the Battlefield site, when it was raised in recent years by the relatives and Sinn Féin, means that it is difficult to see how the commemorative centre can be completed by that time.

"The government now needs to move speedily to establish an Independent Battlefield Survey and to ensure that a comprehensive strategy is put in place by the Minister and Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht which reflects the historic importance the 'laneways of history'; preserves the full Moore Street terrace; and transforms the 1916 Revolutionary Quarter."

(CD/JP)