Ms Róisín O'Grady:

Thank you Chairman. I would like to thank the members of the committee for the invitation to attend this meeting today. As we move into the final years of the decade of centenaries, and are facing the challenge of commemorating events from a very turbulent and sensitive part of our history, I would like to share today some of our experiences in Tipperary and talk about a model of collaboration which was very successful for us in 2019. We have, like our colleagues across the country, been involved in marking centenaries since 2012, through the various cultural services in the county, such as the heritage and arts offices and the library and museum services. We also took part in the Ireland 2016 programme, which nationally generated an unprecedented groundswell of creative engagement and participation on the theme of commemorations in what was a hugely successful two-year programme. The legacy of this programme was an engaged public who had been activated, and were interested in exploring their own history and marking the centenaries of events that had happened in their localities. The challenge facing both them and us were the fact the period of commemoration we were moving into was turbulent and divisive.

Unlike the 1916 events, which had happened largely outside of our county, we were now moving into a period of time where, due to the War of Independence and the Civil War, a significant amount of activity took place in Tipperary. This included events, such as the Soloheadbeg ambush, which is generally seen as the first action of the War of Independence in January 1919 and which resulted in the loss of two lives. There is a significant challenge in commemorating events like this, not least because the historical narrative and the legacy for those involved and their descendants is so completely different. Soloheadbeg was never going to be an easy event. In June 2018, I was approached by a group of locals who had formed a committee to mark the centenary in Solohead parish. They had come together to consider an incident that had happened in their locality 100 years previously, and the tone that they were setting was respectful and inclusive, and one of remembrance.

Over the next month, I provided whatever support I could, and facilitated support from the commemorations unit of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. A number of activities took place around the centenary, including a project with the local primary schools. A formal commemoration took place on 20 January, at which relatives of the people who carried out the ambush, the relatives of the county council employees who were there on the day and the relatives of those who lost their lives were in attendance. An information panel was unveiled at the site of the monument at Solohead Cross, and a publication detailing the events of the day and details of all those who had been present was released and made available to those in attendance. To tie in with this, the county museum and local historical society also hosted a conference the day before this event.

Great credit is due to the organising committee for taking on this event, and for at all times adhering to the principles of respectful and inclusive commemoration. They brought together all elements of the community, and together they worked through any challenges that arose. The history books record these events in great detail, but we must also remember that the narratives that have been handed down through generations are powerful and emotive. The input of local communities on the ground is essential to navigating the path to inclusivity and sensitivity in these matters.

I would like to acknowledge the support and advice for this event. We were delighted to recently be awarded the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Award in the commemorations category, and we were delighted to have the chairman of the Solohead committee with us on the night to receive this award as it recognises the importance of the partnership between local authorities and local communities in relation to commemorations.

This partnership model was also central to our submission to the public call by the expert advisory committee on commemorations in 2018. In Tipperary, we believe this is what works best for us in engaging the public in the commemorations process. The committee we worked with in Solohead certainly had huge capacity, but we would hope to grow this in other groups around the county, and encourage them to adopt the methods and approach used by this group. Resources are essential to this, and we have run a number of grant schemes since 2015 which provide supports to groups in this area. This is something that we would hope to continue to 2023. Again, we acknowledge the support of the commemorations unit and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in helping us to do this on an annual basis. As we now approach 2020, we are again reaching out to our communities and organisations in County Tipperary, with a view to working with them and supporting them in remembering the events of 100 years ago.