Let’s celebrate our constitutional tradition
1916 was not mandated. Not only that, but it was countermanded by Eoin MacNeill, chief of staff of the Irish Volunteers, and opposed by Arthur Griffith, the founder of Sinn Féin.
The vast majority of Irish people did not want sacrificial politics. They knew that Ireland would get Home Rule when World War I ended. As John Bruton said last year, the inevitable outcome of Home Rule would have been the establishment of a republic, as was later achieved in India with virtually no violence.
There was no national day to celebrate the coming into being of an Irish republic by constitutional means in 1948. Why not?
We could put civic politics at the centre of such a day. We could give constitutional politicians like Grattan, O’Connell, Parnell and Redmond their rightful place in Irish politics, denied for too long. It would also give an opportunity to be inclusive and to celebrate the contributions of Protestants to Irish literature and architecture over many centuries. This is long overdue.
Robin Bury
Chairman
The Reform Movement
Killiney
Co Dublin
