Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a bheith linn fosta. I thank the Minister for joining us for this important discussion. I am very happy to support the Bill and I commend Senator Swanick on it. I apologise to him for missing his contribution at the start of the debate as well as that of the seconder, Senator Wilson.

I am happy to support the Bill because it recognises a seminal moment, among many profound moments which have been outlined by previous speakers, in our country's long struggle for independence. Senator Wilson referred to it, and it will come as no surprise that I would equally refer to the unfinished business of independence in its truest sense as outlined in the declaration. I am conscious of not being confrontational because the Bill is important and there is nothing to prohibit us from reflecting on the revolutionary era, the First Dáil and the Declaration of Independence, and doing everything that Senator Boyhan outlined in a proactive way but doing so in a way that we do not just learn but recommit and rededicate to the spirit and aspirations set out in it.

When I was on my way to the Chamber for the debate, a quote from Pádraig Pearse came into my head which I will paraphrase: we the volunteers go out not for some of Ireland but for all of Ireland. The 1919 Declaration of Independence was a watershed event, as was the 1916 Rising and the Tan war which followed on foot of the independence declaration. Those momentous events and years from 1916 until the end of the tragic Civil war in 1923 shaped and continue to shape the politics of Ireland. Those who fought and died in that period did so for the independence of Ireland - all of Ireland. They did not see partition as we know it. The authors of the declaration clearly set out its ethos, philosophy and mood in the long tradition of Irish nationhood and in the long tradition of the international and national understanding of the word "nation". It is this notion of "nation" which those seeking independence draw from today. The 1919 declaration set the intellectual, democratic and territorial basis of the Irish nation in a manner which allowed it to evolve as society evolves. As a benchmark and a reference point, the declaration stands the test of time because it is based on the most important and intrinsically indispensable ingredient, namely, the democratic will of the people. The will of the people who elected the First Dáil was very clear.

The declaration addresses itself many times to the will of the people, directly and indirectly, and I will quote a section from it to illustrate its importance:

And whereas the Irish people is resolved to secure and maintain its complete independence in order to promote the common weal, to establish justice, to provide for future defence, to insure peace at home and goodwill with all nations and to constitute a national polity based upon the people's will with equal right and equal opportunity for every citizen.

In preparing the declaration they drew from and were inspired by the previous seven hundred years of resistance to what the declaration called "foreign usurpation", which the declaration defines as "English rule in this country". To this day all of us in this Chamber and outside it, admittedly in different forms, continue to wrestle with English rule in this country.This Bill gives us the opportunity to pay homage to and connect the Declaration of Independence in 1919, and its philosophical imperative almost 100 years ago, with all the people of the nation. If we do not take it, we stain the declaration and do a great disservice to the people who authored it. It is good that we are proposing to do this formally and annually. That is an important aspect of the Bill.

I believe it would add to the importance of the Bill if a public holiday were to accompany it. While I respect and accept at face value the points made by previous speakers, I do not necessarily believe that a bank holiday would be of great detriment to our economy. If we were to plan it right, do it correctly and do all of the things we spoke about, it could bolster the economy. Perhaps that is something on which we could engage with the proposers as this legislation proceeds.

As I listened to other speakers it occurred to me that to show that Members of this House are taking our responsibilities seriously, it would be a small and symbolically important step if we were to display copies of the Declaration of Independence and the democratic programme of the First Dáil in the House-----