Involve NI in planning celebration, says Martin

FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has suggested including Northern members in the Government’s proposed consultation group to consider the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Rising.

“Let us face it: people from a different tradition may not have the same perspective on 1916 as members of this House,” he said.

“It is an opportunity for a comprehensive approach to commemoration.” Mr Martin urged Taoiseach Enda Kenny to consider broadening the membership to provide a Northern input, “either from the Assembly or strands of opinion, to ensure the centenary is celebrated in an all-island context”.

He said there was a range of issues from the Ulster covenant to the Great War to other major events taking place over the next decade.

“It is important those commemorative opportunities become opportunities for fresh insights, perspectives and a deeper mutual understanding among people of different traditions on the island,” said Mr Martin.

He said he had previously met the Orange Order to discuss the matter and there was a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue towards the collective commemoration of different events of historical significance over the next decade, which resonated back to conflict and history.

“I am sure the Taoiseach would agree that the challenge is to do this in a way that can advance and add value to the kind of society we want to create on the island of Ireland,” Mr Martin added.

Mr Kenny said the consultation group, which he would like to set up before Easter, should be broadened beyond the membership of the Dáil and Seanad.

“There are people with a deep and brilliant understanding of the background and environment in which these events happened,” he added. “It is an opportunity for the Oireachtas to be a party to sensitive and proper commemorations in the period 2012 to 2016 and beyond.” Mr Kenny said he was favourably disposed to taking into account “the fact that the Ulster Unionist Council has launched a document and has a committee dealing with commemorative ceremonies as they see them”.

It was appropriate to link the two, he added.

Mr Kenny said a substantial commemorative programme should be brought forward in respect of the events leading to the State’s foundation. “It would be appropriate that a broad and inclusive commemorative programme would bring to attention the economic and social conditions of the period, the cultural tides and the connectedness of the Irish abroad in this national effort,” he added.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said the coming decade was filled with many important anniversaries, including the signing of the Ulster covenant, the 1913 lockout, the Easter Rising and the 1918 general election.

He urged the Taoiseach to ensure every effort was made to restore and preserve Nos 14 to 17 Moore Street, Dublin, where the Rising’s leaders last met before their surrender. Although they constituted a legally designated national monument, they were under threat from a developer, he added.

Mr Kenny said it was an issue in which he had a particular interest and he had visited the area, adding that he would discuss the matter with Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan shortly.

A preservation order had been placed on No 16 and there were plans for a major redevelopment of the Carlton site. “It is a confined area, but it contains the lanes of history from the time those men and women emerged from the side of the GPO and went in through the side of the buildings to get to No 16,” he added.

“Physically, the structure does not at present look particularly appealing as a national monument.”

Mr Kenny said there was an opportunity to make available a multilingual explanation to people from all over the world so they could see the circumstances and locations where one of the first independent states was recognised early in the 20th century.