Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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9. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the progress of the plans for Ireland 2016; if she would report on stakeholders, including the public and local authorities, in terms of preparations and engagement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23842/15]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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My question concerns the ongoing progress of the plans for Ireland 2016. I ask the Minister to report on stakeholders, including local authorities, in terms of the preparations for this important commemorative event.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Planning is well underway with all stakeholders, including members of the public and local authorities, for next year’s 2016 commemorations. A widespread public consultation process has been underway for a number of months in order to encourage and facilitate the involvement of both national and local, ground-up, initiatives in the wider Ireland 2016 commemorative programme.

The community participation strand of the programme is being led by local authorities across the country. Each local authority has appointed a steering committee and a dedicated Ireland 2016 centenary programme co-ordinator to support engagement and facilitation within local communities. The purpose is to generate awareness of the national programme and to develop and deliver a plan for a suitable programme of events and initiatives to take place at a county level, in line with the national plan for Ireland 2016.

A series of public meetings in each county has been taking place to facilitate this. I think we are at No. 77 at this stage. Meetings have also taken place with other key Departments, agencies and interested parties. My Department's Ireland 2016 project office is engaging with bodies such as the national cultural institutions, the Arts Council and the Heritage Council to ensure that a comprehensive and diverse programme for 2016 is developed.

My Department is also engaging actively with representatives of the various relatives' groups, as well as with individual relatives, to hear their views on the overall programme and to ensure that they will have a central role in a number of the key State events.

I am conscious that many of the events of 1916 took place in Dublin, but I did not want the 2016 commemorations to be Dublin-centred. That is why we are so appreciative of the engagement we are having with local authorities which have partnered with us in a positive and constructive way. I am very happy about that.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her reply and I acknowledge the progress that is being made. I also acknowledge the part played by the Minister, her Department and Mr. John Concannon in his role concerning Ireland 2016. In Galway, groundworks have commenced on Pearse's Cottage which is one of the flagship projects, and the only one outside the capital, to be included as permanent reminders of the events of the 1916 Rising. In Galway the city and county councils have a number of State and ceremonial events planned, including historical reflection, youth and imagination, an teanga beo, and cultural expression. They hope to finalise the commemorative programmes by October.

What involvement will the Minister's departmental team have concerning schools? Is her Department engaging with the Department of Education and Skills, or is it being done though local authorities? It is hugely important to get children involved in this commemoration because they will remember these events for the rest of their lives. It is wonderful to instill in them patriotism and a love of history. This is a very important decade, which includes the 1916 centenary.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I absolutely agree with the Deputy that it is so important to involve children in our commemorations. Children will be central to the 1916 commemorations and in this regard we have been working jointly with the Department of Education and Skills. I wish to acknowledge the latter Department's huge contribution to this project. That Department has a rich programme for the primary, post-primary and third-level education sectors. My Department's Ireland 2016 project office has been working closely with the Department of Education and Skills to ensure that the programme reaches every school in the country. Key events and activities taking place in schools will include a presentation of the national flag and a copy of the Proclamation by a member of the Defence Forces to every national school in the country. Our work will continue with the Thomas Meagher Foundation, which has been engaged in the provision of the national flag to secondary schools around the country.

We will ask children to write a new proclamation for a new generation in their own schools. This will reflect the values, hopes and aspirations of the 2016 generation. We are asking them to look at the Proclamation, examine it and understand it, as well as studying the signatories. A special Proclamation day will take place in all educational institutions on 15 March 2016. It is envisaged that it will include raising the national flag and be followed by a reading of the Proclamation.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Minister. I am sorry for cutting across you but we have a time limit.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her supplementary reply. It is wonderful to see that there are concrete plans for our schools and that is very welcome. The Minister mentioned 77 meetings, but how will they feed back to the plans? Will it be done directly through local authorities or through her Department? What engagement does she foresee?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The idea behind the local authority meetings was to get as many people involved in 2016 as possible. Local authorities are the best way to reach out to the whole country. Each local authority will put together a draft plan which will be presented next month to myself and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly. They will continue to work on that and their final plan will be produced later this year, possibly in October.

We are leaving it up to each local authority to decide on themselves. I believe it is better to get buy-in from the local communities. This is a from-the-ground-up initiative; it is not the case that a project team or my Department is telling people what they should be doing. We want people to come up with their own ideas on how they want to best commemorate 1916, reflect on the past 100 years as well as ambitiously look forward to the next 100 years. It is very much the case that plans will come from each county and I am looking forward to seeing them. We have given the local authorities all the details of our national plan. We are looking forward to seeing their plans in due course.