Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In general, commemorations are managed and operated by the Department of the Taoiseach. As the Deputy knows, the OPW is an agency that supports the Department of the Taoiseach. In many cases, we do much of the back-of-house work or donkey work for the commemorations. We do all the heavy lifting and get none of the recognition, for want of a better way of putting it. Most of the commemorations happen on properties run by the OPW.

May I use this opportunity to thank the OPW staff because it is they who do all the heavy lifting and the putting together of the nuts and bolts for many of the commemorations? They bring in the outside bodies to put the events together. Without them, we would not have what we see on television, namely showcase events that in many cases involve military precision. The back-office teams at many of those events are the men and women of the OPW. I pay tribute to them. The events are routinely held in historical properties run by the OPW, most notably Dublin Castle. Covid limits the number of people who can attend them. Invitations are sent out primarily by the Department of the Taoiseach. It would have the protocol people but we would have the people who do the heavy lifting in respect of the mechanics.

The years 2022 and 2023 will see the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department that is headed by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, leading the commemorations. We are getting into the more difficult and sensitive commemorations, involving the outbreak of the Civil War and the events at the Four Courts. We have a role in that we have already finished the restoration of the cupola at the Four Courts. There will be a role for the OPW in future commemorations.

With regard to the party political element of commemorations, it is important to point out that I recently took the opportunity to remind political parties that there are State commemorations on State properties for a purpose. I have asked them to be mindful that we would like State commemorations only on OPW properties and that we will not entertain party-political commemorations on them. This is because the OPW properties are the properties of all of the people of the State. They are the properties of people who vote for my party, every other party and no party. For that reason, I wrote to all political parties and asked them to respect the fact that the properties are to be used to facilitate State commemorations and, in some cases, commemorations led by local authorities. I asked them to respect these commemorations only and stated we will not be facilitating party-political commemorations. That goes across the board.

The easier commemorations, covering the period from 1916 to 1919, when the First Dáil was established, are now over. It gets more difficult from now on. That is why the staff of the OPW, in particular, must be respected by individuals of all political parties and none. Events should be run in conjunction with the Department of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the local authorities only. Everything else should be outside the gates, precincts or curtilage of the national monuments or State properties operated by the OPW, because they are the property of all the people regardless of who they vote for.