Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

On Deputy Timmins's first question about whether there will be one parade or whether it will be replicated throughout the country, no final decision on that matter has been taken as yet. It is more than likely that it will involve more than one parade in Dublin and that it will involve various parades throughout the country. As I stated, we are still at the very early stages of planning and we would welcome ideas from all sources, including Deputy Timmins who is a former member of the Defence Forces. Any useful suggestions would be gratefully taken on board.

On the announcement at the Ard-Fheis, I suppose that is as good a platform as any place else to make an announcement like this. Frankly, I was surprised at the publicity generated by the fact that it was announced at the Ard-Fheis because this matter has been under discussion since last July. I remember specifically speaking to the Chief of Staff and various people in the Department of Defence to get the matter under way. Obviously there is quite a number of Army officers who knew or heard about it prior to the Taoiseach's official announcement and I am amazed that it did not leak out into the public domain. I thought I had seen it mentioned on some publication or other. Perhaps I am mistaken.

On the centenary committee, certainly the centenary is a long way off but that does not necessarily mean it is premature to prepare for it now. The sooner we start thinking about this, the better. It is a major undertaking and we are giving ourselves plenty of time to plan it.

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