A Vision for the Moore Street Area
Fri, Feb 19, 2021
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The Green Party has this week launched its vision for Dublin’s Moore Street Area. Neasa and her Green Party colleagues have called for an Architectural Conservation Area to be prepared for Moore Street and its surroundings, and for mixed-use new development that is in sympathy with the area’s history and heritage.
Moore Street and its immediate surroundings have suffered from decades of neglect. There is now an extraordinary opportunity to commemorate the past and permit development in sympathy with its surroundings.
The document emphasises that central government, market traders, retailers, landowners, and Dublin City Council must work together. It acknowledges the work undertaken by the Expert Group on Moore Street, the Lord Mayor’s Forum on Moore Street, the 1916 Relatives Groups and others. However, it says urgent action is required to halt deterioration and regenerate the area.
Neasa has said, “Moore Street is not just part of Dubliners’ history and experience of the city – it is a site of national importance. For too long the street has been allowed to decay. We are submitting this document with our vision for a vibrant, diverse and thriving street that weaves historical importance into the heart of city life with the commitment that better days are soon to come.”
The Plan proposes the following:
Commemorate and safeguard the 1916 legacy
Heritage protection must focus on building and neighbourhood renovations and personal testimonies that bear witness to history on living streets.
Revitalise the Moore Street Market
Dublin City Council must see street markets as an opportunity rather than as a threat to the area’s future.
Enhance O’Connell Street
Dublin City Council should appoint a Street Manager whose job is to improve the nation’s capital street and rescue it from neglect and takeaways.
Protect existing heritage buildings
Dublin City Council should prepare a plan to restore Parnell Square to its former glory.
Promote mixed-use development
Planners must recognise that the days of large, enclosed shopping centres are over. Instead, they should focus on place-making and small-scale development that improves the public realm.
Rethink travel and mobility
No new carparks are needed in the city centre. Walking, cycling and public transport are the travel modes of the future.
Provide homes as well as shopping
We are in a housing crisis. Any large development site must contain a significant share of public housing.
Make Parnell Square a public park
Now is the time to reclaim Parnell Square as a green lung for the city, rather than use it for car parking.
Build near-Zero Energy Buildings
All new construction must be built to an nZEB (Near-Zero Energy Building) standard.
Recognise and support new communities
Develop Moore Street, the market and the wider area with a consideration for the vibrancy and diversity that already exists in new communities that have made the street their own.
Reclaim the streets and green the city
Access for all demands a ‘Universal Design’ to movement on foot within the area to facilitate people who are young, old, and those with disabilities. Wider footpaths, more greenery and street trees with less parking spaces can foster social contact.
Use culture to fuel creativity
Culture is key to the regeneration of Moore Street. Respect for the past and a fostering of market trading and caring for our heritage can ensure a bright future for the area.
You can read the full proposal A Vision for Moore Street below.