Dr. Maurice Manning:

We are very conscious of the point being made by the Deputy. We have asked all Departments, even those predating the State, to prepare official histories of their foundation. The Government has supported this request and we would like the support of the committee for it. As the Deputy states, we need to know the nuts and bolts of how all this happened, the models they adopted, their successes and where they may not have been successful. The Secretary General to the Government has sent instructions on this and much work is being done. There is a history of the local government process that is very much under way and it is being undertaken by the Department.

It may surprise people to discover that the Department of Justice and Equality is working on the early days of the justice system. The Law Library, which is not part of the State apparatus, is very conscious of what happened in the courts. There is a series of different projects in place that will try to present by the end of this period a pretty full and detailed account of how the State was set up, who were the ordinary people, how did they go about their work, what were their problems, etc. This very much fits with the Deputy's point that this must be done. He mentioned the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has done a great job so far on that.

With regard to Terence MacSwiney, the committee is very much taken with the Soloheadbeg template because it worked. Cork very much wants to play a major role in the coming year with major ceremonies, including those marking the burning of Cork and Terence MacSwiney. We are working very closely on that with the authorities in Cork, although we are in the early stages. There is a commitment for support of a major event in Cork marking that history. Of course, there will be State participation in and support for that. Our experience demonstrates that where there is strong local leadership, it is better for the State to come in to supplement it rather than everything coming from the top down. I hope the point made by the Deputy will become a reality in the coming year.