Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire. Tá brón orm nach raibh mé in ann bheith in Iúr Cinn Trá Dé Sathairn seo caite. Bhí orm mo bhean chéile a thógáil go dtí an t-ospidéal i mBaile Átha Cliath.

Yesterday, An Taoiseach, the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, launched the Flags for Schools initiative. As part of the Ireland 2016 centenary programme, Óglaigh na hÉireann, the Defence Forces, will present the national flag and a copy of the Proclamation to every primary school throughout the country. The first ceremony was held yesterday in Islandeady, Castlebar, County Mayo. This was the first in a series of ceremonies that will take place in more than 3,300 national schools throughout the country, including special schools. It is a major element of the State programme to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising.

Speaking at yesterday's event, An Taoiseach stated:

We are here for a very special occasion. We are here today for the very first of over three thousand events like this, as Óglaigh na hÉireann, our Defence Forces, begin to present the Irish Tricolour and the 1916 Proclamation to every primary and special school in the land. In being here, we are helping to remember the great sacrifice of the people who fought in 1916 and after so that this flag could be flown by its people, and that this nation could take its place among the world’s free nations.

This initiative is a great way to get young children engaged with the 1916 commemorations. Through the delivery of the national flag to every primary school in the country, children will gain a greater understanding of the work of the Defence Forces and the importance of our national flag, which symbolises the aspirations for peace between the different traditions on this island.

I too hope that thousands of ceremonies that will take place throughout the country in the coming months will leave our schoolchildren with a positive and lasting memory from the commemorations. I thank all those teachers and pupils from primary and post-primary schools for getting involved. Next year's programme of activities to enable people to engage with the events and themes around 1916 is truly exciting and innovative. The Minister is calling on all schools to get involved, particularly in time for Proclamation Day on 15 March next year, when we will ask all schools and further and higher institutes to open the doors to their communities and present the various projects relating to 1916 developed by our young people.

I congratulate the Minister, her departmental officials, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy O'Sullivan, and her staff, as well as the cross-party committee established some three and a half or four years ago, on their efforts on this outstanding initiative to commemorate and celebrate 100 years of our island's history.