Michael Clifford: Hopefully this time our leaders will mean it when they invoke 1916 ideals

Sinn Féin, the parties of the left, and to a lesser extent Fianna Fáil, all embraced the so-called mandate for change after the recent election, writes Michael Clifford

Capt Peter Kelleher reads the Proclamation at the GPO, O’Connell St, as part of the 1916 Easter Rising centenary commemorations. The egalitarian aspirations of 1916 didn’t get too far after independence — but now, a national emergency has seen them suddenly sprout in the form of income supports, rent freezes, and a one-tier health system. Picture: Maxwells/PA

Sinn Féin, the parties of the left, and to a lesser extent Fianna Fáil, all embraced the so-called mandate for change after the recent election. Who would have thought that the most unlikely of revolutionaries, Leo Vardakar, would be the one to deliver it, writes Michael Clifford

At last, the men and women of 1916 can rest easy in their graves. Covid-19 has, at least temporarily, brought about a Republic that resembles that which was presented as an aspiration on Easter Monday in 1916.