Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and I think it is important to place the commemoration in context. Not only are we about to commemorate seminal moments in the country's history but also in the history of the UK and the entire world. The forthcoming years afford us an opportunity to reflect on the foundation of the State and the creation of Northern Ireland. We should reflect on the fact that events did not just suddenly happen but were a continuation and development of centuries of conflict and misunderstanding. The forthcoming commemoration should also be rooted within the broader canvas of world politics in the early part of the 20th century, a century that brought us war and death on an unimaginable scale.

Many of these conflicts had their roots in earlier happenings. The century also brought to an end a vast complex of European colonial rule, which utterly changed politics internationally. There is no simple historical picture that can be painted of these times. They are complex historical events that defy a trite and sometimes calculated effort to mould them to suit a particular political narrative. Some people's efforts to speak to a wider understanding of events are roundly derided as they seem not to conform to a strictly nationalist "little Irelander" version of history. My sincere wish is that everyone's opinion, no matter how contrary it might seem, would be listened to with respect.

This country's history is common to all shades of belief. However, the remembrance and views on the significance of events at the time are not universally shared. The purpose of this decade of commemoration should be to imbue all our citizens with knowledge of the facts and a recognition that not all of those facts are viewed in the same manner by everyone. There are different and divergent traditions on this island - a hugely forgotten or hidden history. How many colleagues know that on Armistice Day, 11 November, in 1924, an crowd estimated at 50,000 people attended an unveiling in College Green of a Celtic cross commissioned in memory of those men of the 16th (Irish) Division - a cross that was later transported to Guillemont in France and erected in their honour? Contemporary newspaper accounts report that approximately 50,000 poppies were sold in Dublin and the surrounding area at the time. That should be to the forefront of everyone's mind in planning these events. If we are honest, our Republic was a very cold house for differing traditions post-Independence. We have a history replete with constitutional and legal provisions coupled with repressive social norms which acted as sometimes benign silencers of other people's views and beliefs. Listening to and sympathising with alternative viewpoints should be a hallmark of these forthcoming events. That is not the same thing as apologising for the creation of the State. We should never do that. In that regard, we should also celebrate the huge achievements of those times - the creation of the State, a vote for all and land transfer. These were hugely important happenings of which we should be justifiably proud. As the expert group advising Government put it, the aim should be to broaden sympathies without having to abandon loyalties, and, in particular, to recognise the value of ideals and sacrifices, including their cost.