It is hoped a new museum to commemorate the 1916 Rising will be open in time to mark the centenary of the event.
Members of the Save No 16 Moore Street committee called on the Taoiseach, Minister for Arts and Culture, and Minister for Finance to support their plan to restore the building where the leaders of the Rising decided to end the rebellion.
The museum would see numbers 14-17 Moore Street restored to their period condition. The second floor of the museum would hold archived material relating to the Rising, while the first floor and ground floor would be the public exhibition space, including restoration of battlefield tunnels.
The exhibition would include exhibits such as the Proclamation of Independence and the letter of surrender.
The committee has campaigned for more than 10 years to save No 16 Moore Street, which was set to be demolished in 1999 to create a millennium centre, according to the group’s secretary, John Conway.
“A couple of the lads found out what was afoot and we started the campaign back then. It gained speed slowly, but by 2002 we were really stuck in. We got what was planned stopped and done away with and we got this new idea to develop,” he said.
“It is a really sensible balance between conservation with regeneration. We were deliriously happy and we remain deliriously happy. We have saved a lot of what’s left of the 1916 Rising.”
Nuala O’Rahilly-Price, granddaughter of Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, who was the only rebellion leader to die in battle, said she was excited to see museum plans come to fruition.
“It is absolutely wonderful to have an actual memorial here in the centre of Dublin and to see what was done and to see the mayhem that was going around,” she said. “It will bring recognition and hopefully a sense of history to any of the youngsters who come here.”