The 108th anniversary of the 1916 Rising was marked by blue skies and warm sunshine. During a ceremony in front of the GPO on Dublin’s O’Connell Street on Sunday afternoon President Michael D Higgins laid a wreath in his first public engagement since he was hospitalised for a brief period in early March.
More than 1,000 people lined the route leading up to the GPO for the annual event to mark the Rising. Also in attendance was the outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, taoiseach-designate Simon Harris, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill who was attending for the first time in her new role.
Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald were also among those present, as were former president Mary McAleese and her husband Martin. Also in attendance were Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and Ministers of State Pippa Hackett and Martin Heydon.
Mr Higgins arrived with his wife Sabina shortly before midday. He inspected a guard of honour in addition to the wreath-laying ceremony, after which there was a minute’s silence for those who died in the Rising.
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Army Capt Paul Murphy read a copy of the 1916 Proclamation, first read on the steps of the GPO by Patrick Pearse during the Rebellion. The ceremony concluded with the national anthem and an Air Corps flyover.
Capt Murphy admitted to a few nerves before the big day and said he had spent the weeks leading up to the occasion learning the Proclamation by heart.
“There were a lot of trips to work reciting it in the car, a lot of moments brushing my teeth at the mirror learning it off. It is a very important day in Irish history and I wanted to give it the deference and the weighting it deserved,” said the four-time hurling All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny.
Mr Harris said, after the event, that when he accepted the invitation it never crossed his mind that he would be doing so as Fine Gael leader.
“I was always planning on attending, I generally do most years and I always think it’s a really, really important day and I always find it a very moving day but I certainly didn’t think I would be attending as leader.”
He said he was proud of how Ireland marked events such as the Easter Rising Commemoration
“I think we do them very well … I’m always very proud of the State on days like today whether it is our Defence Forces or all of the people who work to make these events happen.”
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin was present for the first time in her new role. It marked the first time a First Minister was at the event and she said she was “proud to commemorate the 1916 Rising and all those people that give their lives for Ireland. It’s a beautiful morning. It’s a beautiful ceremony and I am delighted to be here along with the Taoiseach and the President of Ireland on this beautiful Easter Sunday morning.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald noted that “Easter is a time of remembrance [and] huge hope for people. The sun is shining here at the GPO and people are remembering a time of great bravery, the declaration of an Irish Republic, I still believe people want that. I think there’s a real appetite and atmosphere for political change. And you can feel this on days like this”.
Independent Dublin City Councillor Nial Ring was among the dignitaries and he said it was important for him to be there because four of his grandfather’s brothers had fought in the GPO during the Rising. “It is lovely to see so many people still commemorating the seminal event in Irish history. I’m so proud to be here and I’m proud of so many Irish people who see it as important and still come along,” Mr Ring said.
While at a 1916 event at Arbour Hill, Ms McDonald took the opportunity to urge voters to back Sinn Féin candidates in the upcoming local and European elections.
Ms McDonald said that while Ireland’s “place is within the European Union”, the party would only support EU policies “when they are good for Ireland”.
“Ireland’s place is within the European Union, but we also know that the Irish people are best placed to make the decisions that affect them, particularly on issues such as foreign affairs, taxation and investment in public services,” Ms McDonald said.
“We believe passionately in the independence of Ireland’s foreign policy, in defending our military neutrality, in standing up for a Common Agricultural Policy that delivers for family farmers.
“For far too long Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been far too deferential to the European Union. Sinn Féin is different.
“Lynn Boylan and Daithí Doolan are not afraid to stand up for Ireland,” she said of the party’s European election candidates in the Dublin constituency.
“That is why we must leave it all on the pitch to get them elected to the European Parliament.”
Ms McDonald also criticised independent TDs who plan to approve newly appointed Fine Gael leader Simon Harris as the next Taoiseach, as she repeated her calls for a general election.
She called on Moore Street, where 1916 leaders met before the rising, to be protected and restored and “not torn down in the name of profit”, and also appealed for Israel to “end its slaughter” in Gaza. – Additional reporting by PA
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