Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to reinstigate an Oireachtas decade of centenaries committee under the auspices of her office, as was the practice before (details supplied). [22975/17]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Is ceist an-simplí í seo. I do not know which of the two Ministers are in charge now. This question was submitted over a month ago. When will the Minister reinstigate the Oireachtas decade of commemorations committee which has operated in some form or other since 2006?

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Sula bhfreagraíonn an tAire Stáit, tá súil agam go bhfuil sé ag iarraidh leithscéal a dhéanamh agus míniú a thabhairt don Teach os rud é go raibh an oiread sin gearrán idir an dá linn.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Tá brón orm fá dtaobh de sin, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Níl an tAire sinsearach, Teachta Heather Humphreys, ábalta bheith anseo inniu. Tá brón orm fá dtaobh de sin.

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Teachta Ó Snodaigh as an gceist. Ba mhaith liom mo fháilte mhór a chur roimh a chomhghleacaí, Teachta Peadar Tóibín, an fear a bhí ag tabhairt amach trí bliana ó shin, in 2014, nach raibh Gaeilge ag Joe McHugh ag an am. Tá mé ag súil go mór leis an díospóireacht am éigin i dTeach Laighean idir an Teachta agus mé féin trí Ghaeilge.

I refer the Deputy to my earlier reply to Priority Question No. 2. I am committed to re-establishing the Oireachtas All-Party Consultation Committee on Commemorations. The Minister intends to put in place the practical arrangements to reconstitute the group very shortly.

In the period leading up to the 1916 Centenary commemorations, the All-Party Consultation Committee on Commemorations was instrumental in promoting an open, consensus-based and honest approach, which allowed all narratives to be heard and ensured that the State reflected appropriately on all of the major historical events as they unfolded. The work of the committee complemented the work of the expert advisory group on commemorations which also advised the Government on the approach based on the authentic history of the period.

The Government will continue to mark significant events throughout the second half of the decade of centenaries. This includes the Easter commemorations ceremonies to mark the Easter Rising and events to mark the progress of World War I. For example, two weeks ago, the Minister attended commemorations of the Battle of Messines Ridge at the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines, which were jointly led by the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom in partnership with the mayor of Messines. On the Sunday of that week. she was also honoured to lay a wreath on behalf of the Irish Government at the war memorial in Armagh in memory of the men of the 16th Irish Division and the 36th Ulster Division who fought side by side in that battle. Last weekend, the Minister attended a special ceremony to mark the centenary of the foundation of Leopardstown Park Hospital as a convalescent home and hospital for the treatment of soldiers injured in World War I.

I believe both the all-party committee and the expert advisory group have a significant contribution to make with regard to the second half of the decade of centenaries and I look forward to continued positive engagement and consultation with both groups in the coming period.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is a pity the Minister is not here. In fact, this question and Question No. 70 were originally put to the Taoiseach but for some reason, they were bounced to the Minister. I was asking about which events the Taoiseach attended. Given that most of the events seem to be bye or bye, there has been no decade of centenaries committee meeting since last year despite the fact that this is supposed to be a decade of commemorations covering the whole range of events. The members of the old committee were not informed about or invited to the events mentioned by the Minister of State which relate to World War I and there was no planning for major key events that took place in that period. We are talking about 1917, a year in which there were four by-elections which had a major effect on the future War of Independence. That year also saw a hunger strike and the death and funeral of Thomas Ashe but to my knowledge, there has been no planning for a State event to mark that. Other major events include the Sinn Féin Ard-Fheis in 1917 or the IRA convention, which had a major impact on the progress of war thereafter.

If we are to have the same success the nation experienced with regard to events celebrating and commemorating the events of 1916 or even the First World War, the Government must plan for it but there has been no planning involving the centenaries committee in this House since the last meeting in Easter 2016.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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One thing the Minister has been exceptional at is her work on the 1916 commemorations. We are still within that space - the decade of commemorations. When one thinks about what has done for this country, not just in terms of acknowledging the past but also opening so many doors and windows to the past through the Irish language and when one thinks that primary schoolchildren see the tricolour flying high outside their schools and the all the effort and work that went into the commemorations, one can see that there was a lot of thought and partnership went into it. The Deputy rightly pointed out that the Department of the Taoiseach has been involved, as has different personnel in the Department of Defence. There has been such a combined effort to get it right and do it not just in a poignant way but a very sensitive way. I record my thanks for the work the Minister and her team have done in contributing to opening up such a rich window of heritage, language, history and culture which is not just having an impact down South but also in Northern Ireland.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I have no problem with what the Minister of State said but one of the key lessons we have learned to date in the decade of commemorations is that there needs to be planning. There needs to be a timeframe. Regardless of whether it is planning to commemorate the ending of World War I in 18 months' time or the major event that was the Westminster elections of December 1918, they need to be planned. Even the museum needs to be asked to put on an exhibition in either case. For a museum to put on a proper exhibition, it needs a three-year lead in. That support has not been granted to it. There is a range of issues. If the Government wants to engage local authorities, the Department, the Minister and the committee should be instructing them at this stage. We successfully managed to put together a range of events quite quickly. We could have had a lot more. It was very successful and I believe this success should have continued. I asked the Minister last year and a few times since then when this decade of centenaries committee will be formed because that can be the mechanism to stimulate planning for major events that founded the State and other major international events that happened during that revolutionary period between 1917 and 1921 that related to Ireland.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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As a member of the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, with others in the Labour Party, I expressed in government very strong support for all the different mechanisms of the decade of centenaries and a very significant capital budget in respect of the renewal of key capital cultural institutions in this country. Can the Minister of State tell me whether this moribund committee will be reinvigorated? He did not say that. In addition to what Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh said, the 1918 election saw the first votes for women and Countess Markiewicz's election as the first female Member of Parliament, which is a unique distinction in these islands. The period also saw her appointment as the first female Minister in government and the democratic programme, which was subsequently superseded by de Valera's Constitution but which was a far more democratic programme. Now that Fine Gael is in alliance with the Independent Alliance, many of whose members are from a Fine Gael background, as are many Independents, Fine Gael could be racing away from this shared history. Can the Minister of State tell us whether this committee will be reinstated with the capital programme?

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Yes, it is. The Minister is very focused on it and her vision is to have it reconstituted. She is working on that issue. When we consider what has happened in the past few years in terms of the approach to commemorations, I was at an event in Glasnevin with Jeffrey Donaldson. I would never have imagined that ten years ago. I was in Derry a couple of Sunday's ago with Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh's colleague, Martina Anderson, MLA, and different politicians. I take the Deputy's point in terms of remaining focused and vigilant and I understand what he is saying. My job today is to convey that message. I can tell the Deputy that the Minister is committed and focused. Many lessons would have learned in the past few years. I will certainly convey the Deputy's strong words to the Minister.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I agree with Deputy Joan Burton, particularly in respect of the major events. I can give a huge list which includes the revolutionary period.

The counter-revolutionary period also needs to be considered. Even though we have said it covers a decade, I have always argued that we should not stop at 1921 - one of the biggest failures in the State -that we should look beyond it and at the international effect the outcome of the First World War had on small nations. We have an opportunity to enrich young people, in particular, with an understanding of where we stood and stand in the world. If we do not plan, we will lose that opportunity. Outside of everything else, anybody who was involved in any of the projects saw the tourism potential for local communities in their local history. There is a huge opportunity for us, but it will be lost unless we sit down and agree on a list of State commemorative events, a list for which we want local authorities to start planning. The fund helps to invigorate them and local communities. Without it, we would have been much the poorer in the commemorations last year. It should not be down to just that, however, but it was a help and there was a successful programme. We will definitely need much of the fund in the next few years to enable people to understand. We will not agree, but we might understand our history better.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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There is nothing in what the Deputy said with which I would disagree. He is right, that we should not stop at 1921 and that it should not stop with the ceremonies. I remember being at an event on Banna Strand to remember Roger Casement. Prior to that event I had start to learn much more about him and the impact he had had in the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's county and mine with reference to Coláiste Uladh in Gort an Choirce. He was imprisoned in England but still sent money back to national school children on Tory Island and in Gort an Choirce. All of that history has opened up so much for us and we have to think cleverly and creatively about how we can develop it in the Department of Education and Skills also. I agree that there is much more we could do and know that the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, is very conscious of this. Even the name of the Department is up for discussion - that is where officials start to get nervous about what Ministers say - but I know that she is very focused on culture, while I am very focused on the Gaeltacht.