Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will oblige the Acting Chairman by being as brief as possible. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus tréaslaím leis ar an obair atá á déanamh aige sa Rialtas go ginearálta, agus go háirithe ar an óráid fhairsing a thug sé tráthnóna.

In welcoming the Minister I had forgotten that he had been appointed to the Seanad by Garret FitzGerald. If that had not happened Fine Gael would have lost one of its greatest vote-getters and Kerry politics, and national politics, would be the poorer for it. I hope the Minister will remember the Seanad and how it gave him a good start.

The Minister's contribution was thoughtful and balanced but I would like to pick up on some of the points made. There is no doubt that the decade we are celebrating was one of tremendous excitement, and events happened at an extraordinarily fast pace. It must have been a very exciting time to be alive. The generation that experienced it have gone to their reward but they were very much alive and kicking in 1966, to which I will refer shortly. My generation had to learn about it while on the knees of our grandparents. For many of my generation the film "Mise Éire" captured that sterling period for us in an indelible way with O'Riada's fantastic soundtrack. There was so much happening in that entire movement, with Yeats's "All that delirium of the brave", it must have been an intoxicating period.

Despite criticism of the 1966 celebrations some very good events were held. The RTE programming was outstanding but, unfortunately, most of those archives were wiped, including long interviews with all the surviving leaders in the Easter Rising. That was a terrible mistake. The renaming of our major railway stations after the signatories was welcome also. Such initiatives were valid.

We may have made mistakes in 1966 and we must learn from them.

Without giving the Minister the litany, the key moments are the Lock-out; the formation of the volunteers in November 1913 which was a massive event with more than 3,000 people in the Rotunda and has many more trying to get in; the Great War; the gun running at Larne and Howth; the funeral of O'Donovan Rossa, which was a seminal moment in the lead up to 1916; the Rising itself; the declaration of independence from which all else hangs; the War of Independence; the first Dáil; and the cultural revolution and Celtic revival. I hope Dublin City Council will agree to the proposal made by the Abbey Theatre and Senator Mac Conghail that the new bridge will be called the Abbey Theatre bridge because the Celtic revival had a huge part to play in our nationalist movement.

I was a typical rural republican and I learned my attitude to 1916 at home. As I got older I realised there was a different story, perspective and narrative. I certainly have the greatest respect for people such as John Redmond and those who took what was an unpopular position at the time. There was bitterness for a long time afterwards. I remember my grandmother saying that someone I had praised had worn the poppy, which was a major crime in her view. We have moved on from this and we respect those who enlisted in the British army such as Tom Kettle, Francis Ledwidge and many others including Tom Barry. When some soldiers fighting in the First World War heard about the Rising in Dublin they felt betrayed. Others, such as Barry, asked themselves what they were doing in Gallipoli fighting for the British when they should be at home fighting for the freedom of Ireland. It cut different ways. We now have a national day of commemoration when all traditions are embraced, and this has been a very important step forward.

Were we too triumphant in 1966? We probably were. Was there too much militarism about it? There are probably was. I certainly would like to see the Army have a profile in 2016 and in all other commemorations, but a lower profile. Unlike many of my colleagues here I do not believe the Army should be in churches for ceremonies; there is something incongruous about it. We were a young and emerging nation in 1966 and we had to show a little teaspach, which is only natural. Half of the Deputies at the time had been gunmen during the Rising and the War of Independence and it was natural to let off a bit of steam. Senator Norris was a bit harsh about it. We must be more circumspect and careful this time.

I agree with Senators O Murchú and Ó Clochartaigh with regard to Moore Street and it is very important that we put down a marker on it. The Minister has been grappling with it for quite some time and it is not an easy matter.

There will also be an economic dividend from the commemorations. Recently I noticed tours of the hidden Third Reich are organised in Berlin, and lads in Dublin organise walking tours on 1916 which begin at the International Bar. As we move towards the seminal dates we should have much more of this and I am sure there is no better man than the Minister to exploit and develop it for tourism purposes.