Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will. The Gathering was enormously successful, but we must always aim bigger and better, and this will be. It will engage with every Irish person all over the world. We were talking here last night about the diaspora. This will bring the diaspora together. It should be a celebration of what we are, who we are, how far we have come and what we have achieved, as opposed to any kind of squabbling by any political figure, party, or activists. This should be a coming-together in the true sense of meitheal, which makes us a unique country and, in my view, the best country in the world.

I also acknowledge and welcome the Minister's collaboration with the Minister for Education and Skills to bring our schools into it, because I worry deeply about the future of history among the young people of this country. There was a time - only 20 years ago, when I was in secondary school - when the vast majority of people studied history up to leaving certificate. Now, many schools do not even offer history as an option at leaving certificate level because there is not enough demand. I am also worried that it might not be compulsory at junior certificate level. The commemoration of 1916 provides us with a wonderful opportunity to re-engage with our young people and the teaching of history, because one cannot move forward unless one understands the past. We have had some amazing events in the last century: the 1916 Rising and two bloody world wars, the First World War and the Second World War, in which we saw the proliferation of Nazism and its effects, with millions of people losing their lives. Is it possible that the vast majority of our children in 20 years' time will not have any understanding of these important events? We have a responsibility to ensure that does not happen, and I hope this opportunity, which the Minister has kindly included in the programme of events, will be used. We must bring the Minister to the House to find out exactly what she is going to do to reignite the teaching of history in this country, because it is worrying. I spoke at length to Diarmaid Ferriter before I did a television programme on this issue. I have also spoken to other historians and have been contacted by the History Teachers' Association, which is deeply concerned about the diminution in the teaching of history. We can have a long-lasting impact with the commemoration. Obviously it will give us great meitheal and it will bring everyone together, but it will also have an effect in reigniting young people and getting the message across to the powers that be that education is not simply about maths, science and languages. They are important, but education is also about who we are, where we came from, how we got here and the people who created the country we have by making sacrifices. The commemoration programme that the Minister launched yesterday and that she has outlined here is tremendously welcome. We should keep this dialogue going in the Seanad in the run-up to 2016. The Minister is becoming a very welcome visitor to the House, and she should use this Chamber as a forum for discussing and possibly floating various ideas for the commemoration, because this is a work in progress.