A chara, - Arising out of the celebrations of the foundation of the 26-county State, the report in the Irish Times Weekend of November 30th that Fianna Fail commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the first (All-Ireland) Dail on January 21st, 1994 is not correct. It did not do so.
When in the United States over the St Patrick's Day period that year, Mr Albert Reynolds was upbraided, it is believed for Fianna Fail's neglect of the anniversary. He returned to Ireland to organise a minor commemoration in April - three months after the occasion.
Republican Sinn Fein alone had a commemoration on January 21st, 1994. It took the form of a public lecture by the historian Dr Brian P. Murphy in Buswell's Hotel, Dublin. This was followed next day by another successful event - a march from the Mansion House Dublin (the venue of the inaugural meeting of the All-Ireland Dail in 1919) to the GPO, where a public meeting was held.
It is interesting to note who observed the 75th Anniversary of the All-Ireland Declaration of Independence promulgated by the First Dail, and who ignored it. - Is mise,
President, Republican Sinn Fein, Parnell Street, Dublin 1.