Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to ask for a debate, which we need urgently, on the meaning of commemorations at this sensitive time. When we had various commemorations of the Famine, and marked it and remembered all of those who lost their lives, it never occurred to me that we might be celebrating the fact that so many people died and suffered. I do not think many of us would have gotten involved if it was the case.

However, a strange confusion seems to have arisen whereby commemorating something or marking it, one is somehow celebrating it. I thought we had arrived at a different understanding in recent years, and that we commemorated and marked things which were of significance to us all, which some of us might celebrate and others might not, but that that joint commemoration would be the basis for going forward together in mutual understanding. I thought that was our understanding, but the people who should be leading us in this area seem to be adding to the confusion.

The expert advisory group on the centenary celebrations recommended for the 2017 to 2023 period that an academic conference be held to mark the centenary of the petitioning of Ireland and the foundation of Northern Ireland. This is exactly the same language that was used by the organisers of the event to take place in Armagh next month. Extraordinarily, one member involved in the expert group, Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, has weighed in to criticise vocally that Armagh event which I find extraordinary. Our President, who is not accountable to these Houses, has spoken eloquently about the concept-----