Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The committee to which Deputy Ó Caoláin referred was an all-party committee established following the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. That arose from concern expressed at the time that the Government's handling of the commemoration was somewhat partisan and that it would be more appropriate that the commemoration be of an all-party nature to reflect the genuinely national nature of the independence movement and all that happened then. It is important that the committee meet and prepare for the centenary commemorations of several significant events that we will be counting down, such as the 1913 Lockout, the foundation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913, the start of the First World War and the 1916 Rising and the various events after that.

It is also important that while appropriate arrangements are made for the 1916 centenary commemorations, an eye should be kept to the danger of over-commemorating. If we have far too many commemorations, there is a danger of commemoration fatigue. I suggest the Taoiseach and the Minister for Defence arrange for that committee to meet so that appropriate arrangements can be made for the centenary commemoration to ensure they are proper and appropriate. We must ensure the commemorative process has some degree of proportion attached to it.

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