04/02/04 15:53 EST

The Irish government should be ashamed of its lack of commitment to save a building known as 'Ireland's Alamo', Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams claimed today. Number 16 Moore Street in Dublin City Center is revered by historians as the house where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule finally surrendered to the Army.

They moved into the 18th century building following a fire at the General Post Office in nearby O`Connell Street, the focal point of the rebellion.

Today, 16 Moore Street is a run-down terraced shop behind a bustling fruit and vegetable market. It is difficult to note its significance save a tiny plaque high on the crumbling walls. 

Mr. Adams called for the campaign to save the house from commercial developers to be stepped up.

"This was a hugely important event in our recent history and the proclamation remains a document of some note," he said.

"There should certainly be some sense of what happened here. How would you even know if you were walking up and down Moore Street? It`s shameful that there is no fitting state commemoration of what is a pivotal event in recent Irish history."

Mr. Adams said the demolition of the building had so far been prevented but the fact there were no plans to develop it was indicative of the state`s attitude to the event.

"Now you go into any other state in the world and they all commemorate events in their history watershed events," he added.

"But they don`t do it here. Why not? What is the establishment ashamed of?"

The Sinn Fein leader was in Dublin to unveil the party`s Easter commemoration program and called on people across Ireland to wear an Easter Lily to honor Ireland`s patriot dead.

Christy Burke, Dublin city Sinn Fein councillor, said the city council had passed a motion that it be developed into a museum but was still awaiting a supreme court decision.

"Here we have a golden opportunity to develop 16 Moore Street so that tourists and our citizens can be proud and see our history," he said.

Last year, environmental campaigners collected signatures to a petition to save the building, which was a fishmongers at the time it was occupied by the Rising leaders.

On that historic Easter Saturday, Thomas Clarke, Joseph Plunkett, Sean MacDermott, Padraic Pearse and William Pearse gathered around the bed of the wounded James Connolly and agreed on the surrender, to prevent the "further slaughter of the civil population".

Padraic Pearse then wrote the notice of surrender on a small piece of cardboard which is preserved in Ireland`s National Library in Dublin.