Speaking ahead of the Save Moore Street Rally on Sunday, Ms McDonald said: “This a campaign not just for the preservation but more for the regeneration of what is arguably the most significant site in modern Irish history.”
The leader of the opposition said the street had been “left to go to rack and ruin, disgracefully by the successive governments”.
“The Moore Street Preservation Trust has the plan that will respect and honour and commemorate the history of Moor Street, the lanes, all of this revolutionary quarter, and, crucially, the plan that will create a real economic and social dynamic again in the heart of the north side of Dublin city,” she said.
Ms McDonald promised the trust’s plan would be supported and enacted should Sinn Féin be elected in Government and that the party would “entirely resist” An Bord Pleanála’s plan to remodel Moore Street.
“There has been a decision by Bord Pleanála to allow a consortium to essentially take a wrecking ball to this place. We will resist that entirely. As a matter of fact, the state should have intervened on this matter much, much earlier,” she said.
“This election is an opportunity for people to come out now and vote for Sinn Féin to change the government and to have a government that actually appreciates and remembers our history, our tradition, how our freedom was won.
“But also a government that realises the real value of Irish culture, Irish historical sites as part of the modern economy and building a really vibrant capital city.”
The campaign by Moore Street Preservation Trust opposes developer-led plans that threaten the historical integrity of the area.
Plans for the preservation of the area include various cultural and community facilities such as cultural buildings and meeting spaces, potential space for a playschool and children’s facility, restored historical buildings like the Henry Place bottling building and the White House on Moore Lane, and more.
The campaign, supported by James Connolly’s great-grandson James Connolly Heron, has chosen to pursue legal action against planning permission to transform the area.
In 2021, real estate company Hammerson was granted planning permission to create a town square and pathways between and around the street.
Drawings for new office and retail buildings are included in the development plan, which would see houses that currently stand across from the national monument being demolished.
The remodelling of Moore Street would also compromise the existence of Moore Street Market.
