Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have to be fair. The Government was not afraid to deal with the commemorations over the last year and it did an excellent job. There was consultation with everybody and it worked out very well. The Deputy is correct that Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil or anybody else does not own republicanism. I come from a very strong republican background.

My grand-uncle was killed in 1921. He took the Free State side, of which I am very proud. Let nobody think they have ownership of the republican movement. This was not about the republican movement, it was about the State honouring the commemoration. I compliment the Minister, the Department, the State agencies and everybody. The celebrations that took place in this city on Easter Sunday were a credit not alone to Dublin but to the country and the world. The amount of people who wrote articles afterwards that complimented everybody involved showed we had grown up as a State and did very well as a country. The other commemorations will be honoured and will be done in a very detailed way. People will be consulted. That group will be established again. I hope it can be done as a mark of respect to everybody.

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