The Irish Government has been called to preserve the Moore Street area in Dublin as a national monument.

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín has also called for it to be developed as a revolutionary quarter in memory of the men and women who took part in the 1916 Rising.

She said: "I want to extend my ongoing personal support and that of Sinn Féin to the relatives of the 1916 leaders who are in the leadership of this national campaign.

"I had the pleasure of inviting the relatives to the Assembly back in November 2012, alongside Martin McGuinness, where we were delighted to pledge our political support to the campaign.

-- Advertisement --

"As Culture Minister in the North I have engaged with the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht in the South, to press upon the Irish Government the national desire of Irish citizens to see the battlefield site preserved and promoted because of its huge historic, public and tourism significance.

"The people of Ireland, the Irish diaspora and friends of Ireland everywhere, are looking forward to this significant centenary year of the 1916 Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, a pivotal event in our history.

"This outgoing Government now have a very small window of opportunity to act and designate the Moore Street/GPO area as a national monument, to be preserved and developed under the protection of the State as an 1916 historic revolutionary quarter."

(CD/LM)