THE FORMAL ceremony organised by the Government in 2006 to commemorate the Battle of the Somme was perhaps the strongest indication of the renaissance in relations between Ireland and Britain, said Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan.
"The impact the ceremony had was on Irish people in the street, Catholic people mainly, who felt that part of that history had been hidden and concealed from them and was now been revived by the Irish State," said Mr Lenihan.
He was speaking at the launch of Britain and Ireland: Lives Entwinedat the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin last night.
The book, published by the British Council and edited by its director Tony Reilly, explores the relationship between Britain and Ireland. The book includes reminiscences from 10 prominent Irish people. Their themes draw on their childhoods and adolescence and their relationship with Britain during those formative years.
Among the contributors are the former SDLP leader John Hume; journalist and writer Susan McKay; historian Richard English; journalist Mary Fitzgerald of The Irish Times; David Adams, a columnist with The Irish Times; political activist Naoise Nunn and the broadcaster and writer David McWilliams.
British ambassador David Reddaway also said the relationship was extraordinarily healthy and both countries were "mindful of the past but not in thrall to it."