Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am usually brief and to the point. I thank the witnesses for coming here today. It has been interesting to learn more about my history. I was on the board of an Educate Together school that was established in Dublin 8. My main interest in establishing it was for my children. A few years later I found that they did not know the national anthem.

I went into the school to teach it to the children, perhaps badly. I felt passionately that they should have a sense of belonging, pride and respect for the gift of being an Irish citizen. That was extremely important for me. They got there.

Cuba is probably not the most popular country to mention. Other countries have been mentioned. I was part of a group that went to Cuba in 2011 and we visited hospitals, etc. We went to see the Bobby Sands memorials and stuff like that. When we visited schools, we learned that schoolchildren in Cuba are fanatical about their anthem and their flag. It is instilled in them from an early age. Obviously, the false news agency would say this is ingrained in them because they are not free. The point is that they bring their pride in the country with them from childhood right up to adulthood.

I wish to ask the witnesses a few questions. The first of them is for Ard-Mhéara of Cork, Councillor Fitzgerald. Did any schools refuse to take part in the initiative involving the national anthem and the flags?

Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong mentioned that the national anthem was played at theatres, cinemas and dance halls "up to the 1970s or 1980s". Does he know why this was stopped? Was it a political measure? Did it just peter out? Was there a certain cut-off point? It stopped all of a sudden. Some of us can remember it being played.

I did not realise that there is an abstract and beautiful artistic reference to the national anthem in Irish passports until Mr. Nugent pointed it out. What we are talking about here today is the beauty of the past, the present and - hopefully - our future. Can Mr. Nugent tell us when this abstract background detail started to be included in passports? I was not aware until this morning that it is there.

I am proud to meet Mr. Kearney today. His eloquent speech was absolutely electrifying. Regardless of the outcome of this public consultation, as legislators we need to respect our anthem and pass it on safely to our children and our children's children.

I welcome Mr. Ring, who is a grandnephew of Liam Ó Rinn. He set out the fascinating history of the anthem. I wonder whether he thinks Fianna Fáil was a bit opportunistic in plagiarising its name from the national anthem, but we will not get into that argument.