Property in Moore Street ‘battlefield’ row has been sold, court told

Properties on and around Dublin's Moore Street at the centre of a major legal battle aimed at protecting a 1916 Rising "battlefield site" were sold this week, the Court of Appeal has heard.

News of the sale to Dublin Central Limited Partnership, acting through its general partner Dublin Central GP Ltd, Grand Canal Square, Dublin, emerged as the court made directions for an appeal against the High Court's declaration last March. The High Court had said in March that various buildings and sites on and around Moore Street are a 1916 Rising battlefield site comprising a national monument.

Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan fixed December 19th 2017 as the provisional date for the Minister for Arts and Heritage’s appeal against that declaration.

Development company Chartered Land was a notice party to the High Court case due to its having been granted, several years ago, planning permission for a major residential and commercial development in the area around Moore Street.

When the case was in the Court of Appeal’s direction list on Friday, Michael O’Donnell BL for Chartered Land, said there had been a sale of the property overnight to a third party which may have to be substituted for his client in the appeal.

Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan was told the Minister considers the matter urgent as the High Court decision raised issues concerning the interpretation of the national monuments legislation and she was concerned about the implications for completing major infrastructural projects.

The judge said there must be more focus on the issues in dispute in order to try and reduce the “volume” of grounds of appeal.

When counsel for the Minister said the High Court judgment extended to 399 pages, the judge said she was aware of that but believed the grounds of appeal may not be as focussed as they might be. The appellant must identify exactly what issues she wished the appeal court to decide, she added.

The judge made various directions for submission of legal documents for the appeal and fixed it, provisionally, for hearing on December 19th 2017. There may be an earlier hearing if another date becomes available and provided the matter is ready for hearing on any earlier date.

The appeal is against Mr Justice Max Barrett’s judgment on proceedings by Colm Moore, a nominee of the 1916 Relatives Association, aimed at protecting the Moore Street site. The judge granted orders preventing works to the buildings and locations at issue after declaring them to constitute a 1916 Rising battlefield site comprising a national monument.

He said the 1916 Rising is “unique” and the GPO occupies an “iconic” position in Irish history, making what happened to the men and women who fled the GPO after it was ablaze following shelling by British troops “a matter worthy of unique commemoration”. The judge said the Minister could carry out essential conservation works to a terrace on Moore Street which was the final headquarters of the Rising leaders before their executions.

The Minister disputed any such wider battlefield site exists and argued it was adequate to protect the terrace at Nos 14-17 Moore Street where it is intended to establish a 1916 Rising Commemorative Centre.