A legal action aimed at preventing a number of buildings on Dublin’s Moore Street from being demolished is due to get underway this morning.

A group of activists want them preserved as national monumentsto prevent them breing knocked down for a commemorative centre for the 1916 Rising.

Numbers 14 to 17 Moore Street are believed to be the last buildings where the leaders of the Rising gathered before their surrender, and have been designated national monuments.

Colm Moore, a nominee of the 1916 Relatives Association, believes several others should also be protected.

Some of the buildings in his action are earmarked for demolition as part of plans to build a commemorative centre to mark the Rising’s centenary.

One of the issues raised by Mr Moore, from Dundrum in Dublin, includes the criteria required for a structure to attract the status of a national monument.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht claims the buildings in question hold no historical significance.

The hearing is due to get underway this morning.