Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the spirit of inclusiveness, I want to work with everybody to have an appropriate and respectful commemoration in 2016. It is a very important event in our history and it was in that spirit of inclusiveness that we set out the overarching plan to which people can contribute. It is important that people get involved because it is not about any particular individuals, groups or parties; it is about all of the people of Ireland. There were technical problems with the website but they have been sorted. They were mainly due to the large volume of traffic visiting it, even though it was only launched yesterday evening.

The vice chairman of the all-party commemorations committee is the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and Martin Mansergh is the vice chairman of the expert committee. In regard to Senator Comiskey's comments, I hope to visit County Leitrim shortly. I agree with Senator Craughwell that people should not be left waiting past the starting time. I thank Senators for their contributions and I look forward to working with them on what I hope will be a very successful commemoration.