A minute's silence for all who were killed in Dublin during the 1916 Rising will take place after the military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the event has passed the GPO on Easter Sunday.
The proposal to have a minute's silence was made by the Labour Party representative on the all-party steering committee on the 1916 commemoration, Liz McManus, and it was accepted by the Government and the other political parties.
It will honour all who died in 1916, the members of the Irish Volunteers, the Citizen Army, policemen, British soldiers and civilians. Ms McManus also proposed that the contribution of the Citizen Army should be recognised in the parade by having its banner, the Starry Plough, carried alongside the Tricolour and this was also accepted.
"We had a very useful meeting and our concerns were addressed," said Ms McManus. "I had been worried about a partisan approach designed to promote Fianna Fáil, but the Government was embarrassed and had to involve the rest of us."
She said it was agreed to produce a brochure recording the names of all who died in Easter week along with an essay about the event.
The military parade on Easter Sunday will involve 2,500 members of the Army, Navy and Air Corps, Army and Garda UN veterans and a fly-past by the Air Corps. It will start at Dublin Castle and pass along Dame Street, College Green and O'Connell Street. There will be a reading of the Proclamation outside the GPO with appropriate military honours.
Northern MLAs will be invited to join Ministers, TDs, the judiciary, diplomats and other dignitaries on the reviewing stand for the parade. The British ambassador has also been invited .
There will be a wreath-laying ceremony in Kilmainham Gaol in the morning, a reception for relatives of those who took part and a Government reception at Dublin Castle that evening.
The Government has approved a stamp to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916 in which thousands of Irishmen from North and South took part. A ceremony will be held at the war memorial in Islandbridge in July .
Meanwhile, councillors in Derry have backed commemorations to mark the anniversary which could include a controversial parade through the city.
Nationalists say the move is designed to mark one of the most pivotal events in Irish history, but unionists claimed next month's events will isolate the Protestant community.
SDLP councillor Pat Ramsay tabled an amendment to the original Sinn Féin motion, which was passed yesterday. He called for the need to cherish all children equally to be the central theme of the commemorations.
He also said leisure centres and museums should be free for young people on the day. "The 1916 Rising was a hugely important part of our history and it cannot be airbrushed out."
