Madam, - The recent decision by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to grant National Monument status to 16 Moore Street is an interesting and welcome interpretation of the National Monuments Act. It raises an equally interesting legal precedent with respect to this legislation and the protection of heritage.
The building, part of a rather dilapidated Victorian street frontage, may arguably be of some architectural merit but it cannot be described as an archaeological "monument", as defined in the National Monuments Act 1930. Neither could it be considered, under normal circumstances, a "National Monument" as defined in the National Monument Act. In this instance it appears that the sole criterion for its new-found protection under this legislation is the fact that it is associated with a pivotal event in Irish history, having served as the final headquarters of the 1916 Rising.
Mr Roche, quite correctly, has employed his ministerial discretion under the Act to grant this otherwise unremarkable building National Monument status on the basis of historical associations alone, justifying his actions by saying it would be "unconscionable for the Government not to close any potential loophole which might result in the loss or destruction [ of the building]". The Minister's timely intervention in the protection of this site is to be commended, but it also raises a number of other interesting questions.
If a place such as 16 Moore Street can be granted National Monument protection on the basis of an associated historical event alone, then surely those genuine archaeological monuments at the heart of Tara's royal demesne should be afforded similar protection under National Monuments legislation. It is well documented that these monuments, by virtue of their undisputed archaeological and historical associations, are very much an integral part of Tara.
Should we not afford the same protection to the seat of the High Kings of Ireland as we do to the last headquarters of the Provisional Government of 1916? - Yours, etc,
JOE FENWICK, Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway.