Commemorative events to mark the anniversary of the 1798 Rebellion are springing up all over the place, not least in Wexford where there is a programme for practically every day of the year.
Even the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation is getting in on the act - and why wouldn't it, considering its headquarters in Co Wicklow was originally a British army barracks built in response to the Rebellion?
At the end of next month, the President, Mrs McAleese will open a seminar, Women Of 1798/1998 - Rebellion To Reconciliation, which the US ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith will attend, and the British ambassador Veronica Suth- erland will make the closing address.
Claire Tuhey, until last month press officer in the British embassy, has joined Glencree on secondment from the Foreign Office. She is in charge of development and press and has the task of strengthening east/west relations (north/south having been the main focus to date), raising funds and heightening the profile of the charity. The director of Glencree, Ian White, said that in financial terms the contribution by way of secondment of Tuhey was as significant as the Irish Government's contribution to the organisation.
Under its new president Alfie Kane, chief executive of Telecom Eireann, it is hoped to find enough money to turn the reconciliation centre into a top-class conference venue and Anglo-Irish exhibition centre.