Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland 2016 is the Government's initiative to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising while also reflecting on our achievements in the past 100 years and considering what we want to achieve in the next 100 years. It is based on five themes: celebrating our achievements, remembering our past, the reconciling and respecting of all traditions, presenting Ireland to the world, and imagining our future. A great deal of work is currently under way led by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, who has established the Ireland 2016 project office within her Department, which is leading the engagement and planning elements of the programme. The Government has provided €22 million in 2015 for the development of seven major flagship commemoration projects which will be completed by Easter 2016. They include the development of the permanent exhibition space and interpretative centre at the GPO; the renovation of Kilmainham courthouse to enhance the visitor experience in Kilmainham Gaol; the provision of a permanent visitor facility at Cathal Brugha barracks for the military service pension archive; the development of visitor facilities in Teach on Phiarsaigh at Rosmuc; the renovation works at Richmond barracks; the development of a tenement museum in Dublin; and the restoration of the Kevin Barry rooms in the National Concert Hall. These are all projects that provide a permanent and lasting tribute to those involved in the 1916 Rising. People should remember what has been done and what is being done in relation to commemorations.