Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A Cheann Comhairle, a Chathaoirligh, a Thaoisigh agus a cháirde go léir, táimid bailithe anseo inniu sa seomra stairiúil seo i dTeach an Ardmhéara chun ómós a thabhairt do na laochra go léir, fir agus mná, a bhí sásta gach rud a dhéanamh chun saoirse na hÉireann a bhaint amach, ní dóibh féin ach do dhaoine eile.

It is my great privilege to speak here today on behalf of the Rural Independent Group as we gather to celebrate and recall the first meeting of Dáil Éireann. It is an even greater privilege for me to serve the people of Tipperary in Dáil Éireann 100 years after the momentous events of Soloheadbeg, which were so honourably commemorated inné and inniu freisin, and indeed I compliment the organising committee of the same event.

It is indeed an honourable history, born of a struggle and long-endured sacrifice by countless people. It was a moment at which we chose to define ourselves by embracing an international, outward-looking vision of democracy. We managed to do so while losing nothing of the distinctiveness and value of our Irish heritage and culture, as the Declaration of Independence, Forógra na Saoirse, adopted by Dáil Éireann at its first meeting made quite clear: "We claim for our national independence the recognition and support of every free nation in the world, and we proclaim that independence to be a condition precedent to international peace hereafter".

We know that the historical context of this Declaration was the devastation of the First World War, in which the lives of millions had been annihilated and it is estimated that at least 40,000 Irish soldiers lost their lives. Despite this catastrophe, our leaders at the time were men and women who were deeply confident and hopeful about the future. That was born from an intimate knowledge of the Irish people and the strength of their character. That strength and resilience are still there in spite of all the trauma we as a people have endured: the dark tragedy of the Northern Ireland conflict, the collapse of the economy and the ongoing scandal that is afflicting hundreds of thousands of families with respect to health, housing and financial persecution. It is on occasions such as these that we need to reassess how much we have achieved in terms of the original and inspiring vision proclaimed during the exciting times of an Chéad Dáil.

Can we really say that the commitment to democracy is still as strong as it should be at an institutional level? It is hard to see how that can be the case when we have seen the abolition of the local democratic structures such as town and borough councils, and indeed the blatant closure of post offices and Garda stations in rural Ireland. These are not democratic luxuries unrelated to the high romanticism of our early history. The First Dáil had a clear vision that the people were at the heart of the democratic process. We have certainly moved away from that, in practice if not in theory. For all our modern means of communication a significant number of our citizens feel disconnected from the State and unheard by those in power. At the local level contact is being made more and more difficult, while at national level the perception is growing that the Dáil itself, more than 100 years later, has lost the nobility of the original vision and is little more than an exercise in rubber-stamping the decisions of the Executive.

Our Declaration of Independence, Forógra na Saoirse, makes it quite clear, stating; "the elected Representatives of the Irish people alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland, and that the Irish Parliament is the only Parliament to which that people will give its allegiance". Even if that has been legitimately redefined with our accession to the European Union, there is still a sense in which that principle is being ignored or diminished somewhat. Our Parliament is too often cajoled or indeed pushed, however diplomatically, into adopting positions formulated by international bodies or even other national parliaments that seem to pay little or no heed to democratic sovereignty or autonomy. It is my fervent hope that we never forget this most important point. We are the servants of the people, na Teachtaí Dála. Let us work to recapture some of the truly and authentically democratic spirit of that great and glorious Céad Dáil.

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