Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I thank her for her address in Newry last Saturday. If it was a foretaste of the events of the coming year, it was an auspicious start. The Minister, her Department and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council organised a commemoration of the Famine. As part of the inclusiveness that Senator O'Keeffe mentioned, historian Dr. Eamon Phoenix described in new ways the impact of the Famine on the Ulster Unionist and Protestant communities. That was an aspect that was not known previously. It was an innovation. I attended in the presence of the Minister, Mr. Danny Kennedy, MLA, and Senator Ó Murchú. We must get that group together again as it was most informative and useful. I commend the Minister on the inclusiveness she has shown in the organisation of events.

The Trinity College Dublin commemoration of the 1914 to 1918 period earlier in the day has been mentioned. The chaplains kept it going, but it has been reinterpreted. Idealistic people of 16, 17 and 18 years of age volunteered in large numbers because they believed in the cause. Almost 500 never came back.

Inclusiveness is important. When the Taoiseach honoured Thomas Kent at his funeral, I welcomed his reference to the RIC man who was shot on the same day. As I stated when the Minister attended the Seanad previously, "including everyone" also means the many ordinary policemen who did not have a political stance but were caught up in this and killed, had to leave or were forgotten. The Minister's inclusiveness was impressive.

National schools will gain from soldiers bringing the flag to them and explaining it. I saw it on television being done at a school in Mayo. The schoolchildren were most impressed by the gesture. It was magical for them.

Much happened during the decade in question. The teens were a period of great vibrancy in music, theatre and politics. The 1920s to 1950s were dull in comparison. The Minister is celebrating the most exciting decade. The celebrations have got off to a good start.

The inclusiveness was appreciated in Newry last Saturday. Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP, brought rugby to Croke Park. Many Unionists support that sport and an all-Ireland team is to be commended. The invitation that the Minister issued to every ambassador, chargé d'affaires and honorary consul probably brought together a range of people in Newry who had never been all together before. That was commendable.

We are celebrating the rise of trade unionism, which was an ingredient in what happened in 1916 and workers' rights, the suffragettes and the franchise. There are many interesting elements to celebrate. What I saw in Newry last Saturday was a good start. I commend initiatives like Joe Duffy's researching of the 40 children who were killed in 1916.

I have always felt that school programmes have immense possibility. They are mostly exploited, if that is the word, when a team wins the Sam Maguire cup or the Liam McCarthy cup and it is brought to schools. That day is one that all the children remember. It is exciting. The Minister for Education and Skills could use ambassadors to explain to schoolchildren how culture, business and sport operate, as one never knows what might excite the spark in young people. They remember the day when someone famous came to their school.

The programme deserves the support of every Senator. I wish the Minister well. It should be a time of great celebration. We are constantly seeing 1916 and that decade in a new light. Instead of looking back in anger, there should be positivity in terms of what that period means for Ireland's future. A maelstrom of ideas came together at the time. For capturing that excitement, the House and the country are in the Minister's debt. I commend what she has done.