A symposium on the 1798 Rebellion entitled The View from Four Cities was held yesterday in Drogheda. Prof Hugh Gough and Dr David Doyle from the department of history at University College Dublin were among the guest speakers.
Mr Trevor Parkhill, keeper of history at the Ulster Museum, gave a lecture on the Belfast perspective, while Mr Tommy Graham, editor of History Ireland, gave the reaction in Dublin. Prof Gough said French support for the 1798 Rebellion by Wolfe Tone was "too little, too late". France's interest in Irish politics lay in conquering England and was sufficient to send military support, but strong winds off Cork delayed it by a week.