Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

The people do not trust the Government to honour the patriot dead, the men and women and their families. Those families must be remembered. The volunteers and heroes died but their families had to live on through the pain and suffering. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have disrespected those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Minister comes in here and talks about turning it into a retail space. My God, man. It is the heart and soul of the Irish people and of this country. Does the Government not understand what it means to the ordinary men, women and children in the street?

Right now, tens of thousands of Irish people are emigrating to the four corners of the world. The one thing they all know is that on Easter weekend of 1916, Irishmen and Irishwomen stood up and fought, and led a cause for Irish freedom. Pádraig Pearse stood on the steps of the GPO, read one of the greatest documents in the history of the world - I am not exaggerating - and outlined the vision that he and his comrades had. The Government is talking about turning the GPO into a retail space.

Dr. Kathleen Lynn, another lady the Government has tried to erase from history, wrote in her diary about the men who were shot following the 1916 Rising: "God bless them, they did not fear to die for Ireland". This Government would do well to remember that.

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