Citizens must celebrate 1916 centenary if Government won’t

As we near the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, it is obvious the Government has abandoned ownership of the most seminal event in Irish history.

Rumblings about our revolutionary past and the morality of commemorating it are gaining momentum. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, was at the Fine Gael National Conference (whatever happened to Ard Fheis?) warning us that we cannot allow the centenary commemorations to become divisive, and there have even been calls for a low-key ceremony for fear of offending people of different traditions on this island.

In a call for the “shameless celebration” of the Easter Rising centenary, whatever government is in power in 2016, Ronan Fanning, UCD professor emeritus of history, said there must be a “recognition of historical reality”.

Professor Fanning’s views are more reflective of public opinion than the Government’s. No such calls are made when the Government is participating in Remembrance Day commemorations, which honour those Irish who fought and died in both world wars under the British flag.

One can only conclude that we should honour unconditionally those Irish who died in British uniform, fighting in foreign wars, but not those who died in Ireland, fighting for the establishment of an independent nation.

In 1991, on the 75th anniversary of the Easter Rising, the then government bowed to pressure from unrepresentative groups, who were ideologically opposed to Irish separatism, and shamefully ignored the anniversary of the Rising. Yet the Rising was a truly remarkable episode in our history, which rid most of this country of British colonial rule. Yet people who oppose the commemoration of 1916, on the basis that its participants showed disregard for human life, had no problem commemorating the unparalleled slaughter of millions during the 1914-1918 inter-imperialist conflict.

In 1991, however, the citizens of Ireland took it upon themselves to commemorate the 1916 Rising and they responded magnificently in their tens of thousands.

Citizens from every corner of the country converged on Dublin to pay tribute to those who died for Irish freedom.

In the absence of a worthy, fitting and appropriate, State-sponsored programme of events to honour solemnly the centenary of 1916, the citizens of Ireland may well take it upon themselves to, once again, save the honour of the Republic of Ireland.

Tom Cooper

Templeville Road,

Templeogue,

Dublin 6w