Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Táim lán-sásta labhairt ar an ócáid stairiúil seo - comóradh 100 bliain an Chéad Dáil. One hundred years ago in this very room, revolutionary Ireland found its parliamentary voice. Deputies gathered with a unity of purpose in the cause of equality, independence and freedom. An eyewitness to the day, Máire Comerford of Cumann na mBan, said of an Chéad Dáil that "never was the past so near, or the present so brave, or the future so full of hope". It is an honour to follow in their footsteps by sharing this room today with elected representatives from across this island, including the counties of partitioned Ulster - of Antrim and Down, of Derry, Fermanagh, Armagh and Tyrone.

5 o’clock

Today we are whole.

After so much hope, the vision of the Democratic Programme and the First Dáil was lost to British repression, civil war, partition, conflict and the establishment of two conservative states, North and South. The Ireland of today is not the Ireland promised in the 1916 Proclamation. This is not the Dáil of the Democratic Programme because Ireland remains divided, broken.

The tenements have gone, but tenants live in fear of eviction. Children no longer go hungry in the poorhouse but now in hotel rooms, unseen and forgotten. The lockout bosses are gone, but workers’ rights are eroded and a job is no longer a guaranteed route out of poverty. There are those who believe that homelessness is acceptable, that poverty is inevitable and that partition is permanent. I reject those views. Our forebears 100 years ago rejected those views - the generation that entered this room and said to the British Government that its empire is ended and this is our nation.

We come not just to recriminate about what could have been, but to plan for what can be. Let me say that this is the time to realise the promise of that revolutionary generation. We should not come here to genuflect to the past but to stand with all those who came before us.

Is trí Ghaeilge a ritheadh imeachtaí na Chéad Dála 100 bliain ó shin. Tharla sé seo mar gur bhain an chéad chruinniú na Dála le níos mó ná Stát a bhunú: bhain sé leis an náisiún. Uirlis pholaitiúil leis an náisiún a chur chun cinn a bhí i Sinn Féin agus chuaigh sé i bhfeidhm ar i bhfad níos mó ná a bhallraíochtféin. Bhí forbairt ag teacht thar ghluaiseacht na gceardchumann agus ar ghluaiseacht chearta na mban ag an am sin. Bhí Cumann Lúthchleas Gael agus Conradh na Gaeilge ar thús cadhnaíochta maidir le slánú agus caomhnú an Gaeilge agus 100 bliain ar aghaidh, tá an Ghaeilge faoi bhagairt fós. Caithfimid níos mó daoine a spreagadh chun an Gaeilge a úsáid ina saol, ar fud an oileáin, ó Thuaidh agus ó Theas.

Independence alone is not enough. To paraphrase Connolly, it is not just about changing the flag over Dublin Castle. Ireland, North and South, is changing and we have before us the opportunity to build a new united Ireland in which all can find a home and in which the sick are cared for, an Ireland of the safety net and the helping hand, an Ireland of equal rights, equal opportunity and shared prosperity, a free and sovereign nation among the nations of the world. Standing here 100 years on, the past has never been so near, the present so crying out for bravery and the future so filled with challenge and with hope.

Let us not wait another 100 years. Let the Government convene an all-Ireland forum to build for unity and to plan for unity because we now have a peaceful and democratic pathway to a new and united Ireland, an opportunity that was not afforded to the First Dáil or to generations since. Now is the time to start the last leg of that journey, to build a truly national democracy and a truly national parliament - a republic worthy of the name and of the sacrifices of all who came before. Tá bealach síochánta, daonlathach againn anois Éire aontaithe a bhaint amach, deis nach raibh ar fáil do bhaill na Chéad Dála ná do ghlúin phoblachtánaigh eile. Tá sé in am anois an tír a aontú agus ní mór dúinn reifreann ar aontacht na hÉireann a bheith againn. Caithfimid é seo a dhéanamh agus caithfimid Éire nua, aontaithe a bhaint amach.

We stand again on the threshold of the future. It is now for us to meet the challenge set by an Chéad Dáil and to finish the journey to full Irish democracy and freedom. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

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