What a fine day, in every sense. Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets and squares of Dublin to celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising.
On Sunday we had remembered the Rising as the catalyst for the achievement of our independent nation. Tribute was paid to those who died, and to the great service done for the State by the Defence Forces and others.
The ceremonies were moving and dignified, exactly as they should have been. But on Monday, the city took off its tie and slipped into something more comfortable.
This felt more like a music festival. The smell of grilled burgers hung over O’Connell Street and Smithfield. People queued patiently for coffee. Parents wheeled buggies the size of Crossley Tenders across the grass of St Stephen’s Green, and musicians of every imaginable genre played on open-air stages to appreciative crowds. Ladies in ankle-length skirts consorted with gentlemen in slouch hats and Sam Browne belts.
An Irish wolfhound stood majestic before the portico of the Abbey Theatre, as tribute was paid inside to Abbey employees who had fought and died.
In Smithfield, the men of the Royal Munster Fusiliers stood about, rifles slung over their backs, alongside nurses and orderlies from the St John's Ambulance and Red Cross in their 1916 uniforms.
Communal act
Colin Quigley of the
Living History
Group explained his uniform was almost identical to the one worn by the Sherwood Foresters who fell at Mount Street Bridge. A nearby Volunteer affected to ignore him. For most, though, this was about the simple communal act of walking the streets of Dublin on a fine spring day, enjoying the sights and stopping at the places where the Rising took place.
What would the rebels of 1916 have made of all this? Indeed, what would the organisers of the more straitlaced 1966 commemorations have thought of Liveline blaring down O'Connell Street? Was it for this? In fact, Joe Duffy, Miriam O'Callaghan and many other RTÉ presenters did a fine job and the broadcaster's Reflecting the Rising strand, encompassing everything from light entertainment to deep reflection, was the unifying thread across all the day's events.
What might have been a branding exercise ended up an impressive affirmation of public service broadcasting.There was far, far too much for any one person to take in. At 1.15pm wreaths were laid simultaneously at various points across the city and country to mark the moment the first shots were fired.
Part-carnival, part-symposium, part-family day out, Easter Monday 2016 was an unqualified success and a well-judged counterpoint to what went before. A fine day was had by all.