President Higgins: Republic that 1916 rebels dreamed of “remains unfulfilled”

President Michael D Higgins says the Republic that the 1916 rebels dreamed of “remains unfulfilled”.

Attending a State ceremony at Liberty Hall to honour James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army, President Higgins highlighted current issues such as housing, adequate childcare, and health services which the leaders of the Rising had hoped to eradicate.

Speaking at one of the final events to mark the centenary of the rising, President Higgins said the country should “seize the opportunity of these ongoing commemorations to rekindle the unfulfilled promises bequeathed to us across the century by the women and men of the Irish Citizen Army”.

Remembering the leaders of the Rising, he said: “Their vision of a people free from want, free from impoverishment, and free from exploitation remains a wellspring of inspiration for us as we seek to respond to the situation of too many workers who, in Ireland today, earn a wage that guarantees neither a life free from poverty, nor access to decent housing, adequate childcare, and health services.”

Relatives of those involved in the Rising attended the event at Liberty Hall where the proclamation was printed on Easter Sunday ahead of the Rising.

Dublin in the sunshine today as we attended a #1916 commemoration with @PresidentIRL at #LibertyHall #Ireland2016 pic.twitter.com/G50i9vp2r4

— Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) March 29, 2016

Labour Party leader Joan Burton and Dublin’s lord mayor, Criona Ní Dhalaigh, also attended the event during which a minute’s silence was held.

President Higgins said the “aspirations for true equality, for real independence, can still sustain us today in the task of rebuilding our society and our economy”.

“The women and men of the Irish Citizen Army were committed to achieving much more than just a national political independence,” he said. “The Republic of which they dreamt, the Republic which is yet to be realised, was one that would enable a more equal redistribution of the fruits of prosperity among all of its children.

“Let us seize the opportunity of these ongoing commemorations to rekindle the unfulfilled promises bequeathed to us across the century by the women and men of the Irish Citizen Army.”

A Flag has been raised and a plaque unveiled by @PresidentIRL @defenceforces #LibertyHall @SIPTU #Ireland2016 pic.twitter.com/9AFtDZdCk0

— Ireland 2016 (@ireland2016) March 29, 2016

Citing Kathleen Lynn, who was second in command at City Hall, and Constance Markievicz and Margaret Skinnider, who played important combatant roles at St Stephen’s Green, he said one of the most remarkable legacies of the Irish Citizen Army for us today is “the place it carved out for women, both among its ranks and in its vision for the Ireland of the future”.

He said that the leaders “saw women’s emancipation as being essential to any genuine social progress”.