Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We were commemorating the 1916 Rising in a way that seemed almost to celebrate the military and weapons. It made me uncomfortable.

For many of us who wish to attend the parade with families and children, it would be appropriate if there were some aspect of the parade that recognised, for example, the role of women. Senator Mac Conghail spoke about the role of women, the role of marginalised communities and the inspiration for the Irish Citizen Army and the work of James Connolly. We should not commemorate the republican leaders without remembering that a hugely important social uprising was taking place as well. The origins of the Labour Party lie in the work of Larkin and Connolly, and that was a very important movement at the time, as was the suffragette movement.

Let us write those in, not just to other events and cultural events but into parades that would otherwise be military. It is a difficult one to incorporate other aspects but it was an uncomfortable moment for me watching the tanks cross over O'Connell Bridge. I am not sure I want to see it again without recognition of other aspects. That is a point about being inclusive.
We must be careful about commemorating through the use of religious services. The Minister spoke about an interfaith service and a requiem mass. At the inauguration of President Michael D. Higgins, there was a sense of ensuring those of different faiths and no faith were included. There was a humanist celebrant on the stage for the President's inauguration. Let us ensure that humanists, atheists and people of minority religions feel included when we use religious service as part of commemorative events.
The third point is about women's involvement. Senator Daly spoke about the motion before the House, which I and the Labour Party group supported. We call on local authorities to commemorate the women involved in Cumann na mBan in the centenary of the foundation of Cumann na mBan and to remember to use women's names when naming public places. It has been overlooked for decades. The Rosie Hackett Bridge was named by Dublin City Council as part of a campaign initiated by young women in Labour Youth and other organisations. It marked a real shift in approach and I hope we see more of it.
I am glad we will include an education programme to reach out to schools and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, will be involved. It is important it reaches down through community events and that we do not commemorate in a top-down way. I am struck by a recent review of a book by Roy Foster, Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890 to 1923. The author takes a phrase from Yeats, "vivid faces", referring to the rebels in the poem 'Easter 1916'. He talks about those involved in the rising and uses contemporaneous accounts to try to get as close as possible to the living stream of events. One review points out that the book matters because it avoids the Irish vice of replacing history with commemoration. We must ensure empty commemoration is not the theme and that we are using vivid accounts of the period to get close to what really happened.