Sinn Féin Councillor Aisling Hutton has encouraged people in Derry to sign an online petition calling for the Irish Government to bring Moore Street into public ownership and to build a 1916 historical Quarter.

Councillor Hutton said she felt it was important that ‘as many people as possible’ from Derry support this campaign.

The ‘Battle of Moore Street’ took place over April 28-29, 1916.

During Easter 1916, hundreds of Irish Volunteers escaped, under a hail of fire from British military, from the burning General Post Office and took shelter in the Moore Street buildings.

Group pictured at the Derry Féile launch of a book on 'The Battle of Moore Street' by by Irish historian Ray Bateson.

placeholder image — Group pictured at the Derry Féile launch of a book on 'The Battle of Moore Street' by by Irish historian Ray Bateson.

It marked the end of the Easter Rising as Irish Volunteers commanded by Pádraig Pearse surrendered to the British on April 30 from a house on the street.

Several of the buildings were given national monument status in the 2000s and the area has a long-standing street market.

The Moore Street Preservation Trust is calling on the Irish Government to bring Moore Street into public ownership and build a 1916 historical Quarter.

The campaign aims to ensure a thriving historic district that celebrates Ireland’s revolutionary history, supports local traders and communities, and creates a place future generations can be proud of in the heart of Dublin.

"Last year at the Féile,” Colr. Hutton said, “we had the pleasure of hosting Irish historian Ray Bateson speaking at the launch of 'The Battle of Moore Street' a bi lingual history of the final battle of the Easter Rising in the words of those who were there.

"It is shocking that this Fianna Fáil/ Fine Gael government has time and time again turned its face against the preservation of our revolutionary history. They refused to call the National Children’s Hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn, a pioneer medic and heroine of 1916, despite a Dáil vote supporting it.

"It is incredible that they want to turn one of the most iconic sites of Ireland’s struggle for freedom into shops and office space. This is the building outside which Pádraig Pearse in Easter 1916 read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. These streets in this area are the physical environs of one of the seminal chapters in Ireland’s long fight for independence.

"In any other city in the world we would see visionary, ambitious plans to develop the site, preserving our rebel history with a national museum, arts and culture, education, tourism and homes to make it a living, breathing area.

"This is a national issue and it necessitates a national campaign.

“We give our full support to the Moore Street preservation Trust. Sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/save-moore-street-buy-the-terrace” she added.

In February this year, it was announced that the Government had approved the development of a 1916 Commemorative Centre at one section of Moore Street, numbers 14 to 17, to proceed to the main construction tender stage and, subsequently, to the preferred contractor.

Funding has been earmarked for the project to be carried out by the Office of Public Works to create a Commemorative Centre and National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street, incorporating the conservation of the National Monument buildings at 14-17 Moore Street, and the use of the space to the rear of the Monument, at 8-9 Moore Lane, for the creation of a complementary visitor and cultural venue building providing curatorial facilities, public exhibition space, and a community resource.