Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Tá mé iontach buíoch go bhfuil deis agam an tábhar seo a phlé os comhair an tSeanaid inniu. I am glad to have the opportunity to raise this issue, and that the Minister for Education and Science will hear my comments on the matter concerned, which is the need for the Government to promote the wearing of the Easter lily as a symbol of commemoration to all those who gave their lives in the pursuit of Irish freedom. The Government has reinstated the national commemoration to remember all those who gave their lives in the GPO and other venues throughout Dublin and the country in the pursuit of Irish freedom. I hope this is extended by promoting the Easter lily.

I will outline to the House the symbolism of the Easter lily and its history so Members can be informed. The Easter lily was designed in 1925 by Cumann na mBan. Its purpose was to raise money for the republican prisoners' dependents fund and to honour the sacrifices made by men and women in the 1916 rising. One year later, the Easter lily commemoration committee was formed and existed until 1965. One of its founder members was Sheila Humphries. The original lily was hand-made by republicans who sold it at great risk throughout the country. Over the years, many republicans have been arrested, attacked, jailed and reviled for keeping alive the memory of the men and women of the Easter rising.

The lily is an emblem of unity between the various traditions within the nation and a symbol of life breathed into the nation by the heroism of the volunteers of 1916. The symbol is associated with the rising in Dublin due to the seasonal decoration in churches during this period. The use of the lily at funerals symbolises the restored innocence of the soul at death. Today, republicans continue to honour the heroic sacrifice made in 1916 when the IRA, hopelessly outnumbered and ill-equipped, faced the might of the British Army and showed the world, in the words of Patrick Pearse, that Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.