Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016 will be the centrepiece of the Government’s decade of commemorations programme. The Taoiseach launched the outline plans for the commemoration of the Easter Rising 1916 on Wednesday, 12 November last. These outline plans are now subject to a period of consultation to enable members of the public to comment and to submit ideas in regard to this important commemoration. Details of the proposed plans, and a facility for submitting comments and ideas, can be found on the dedicated website www.ireland.ie. My colleague, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, whose Department has lead responsibility for the commemoration, has also tasked a team from her Department with visiting every county in the country to listen to people’s views on how best we might commemorate 1916. Once this consultation process has concluded and final decisions are made on the overall programme of events, the Government will then be in a position to consider the question of attendance by Ireland’s international partners.

As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland’s diaspora are keen to mark this centenary and my Department, through its network of overseas embassies, is planning a series of initiatives, including talks, community events, exhibitions, seminars and cultural events, to commemorate the events of 1916 and to present Ireland in 2016 to the world. Highlights of this programme will include a major three-week festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in May-June 2016, as well as the premiere of a major documentary on 1916 currently under preparation at Notre Dame University.

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