Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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I want to raise what I view as the necessity for the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to state if she will agree to hold the wreath-laying ceremony for the Athenry 1916 Rising commemoration at the commemorative garden at the Back Lawn, Swan Gate in Athenry. This is where Liam Mellows and his comrades originally congregated on Friday, March 24 1916. On that day, Mellows was arrested by the RIC, Royal Irish Constabulary, and deported to the UK. The importance of Athenry to the 1916 Rising cannot be understated. This is underlined by the fact that it is one of just four locations which will be marked by major commemorative celebrations next year and the only one in Connacht.

For the Minister to agree to hold the ceremony at the Back Lawn in Athenry would be a great boost to the local community and the organising committee which takes great pride in the role our town played in fighting for independence. It would be ample recognition of the significant progress the committee has made in developing a commemorative garden at the site. For these reasons, the local area would be honoured by the wreath-Iaying ceremony of such an important occasion taking place at this spot in Athenry. I hope the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will agree to this proposal.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue.

One of the core objectives of the 2016 centenary programme is to encourage and facilitate participation by, and the inclusion of, the citizens to the greatest extent possible in the programme of events to commemorate this significant centenary. An extensive programme of formal State ceremonial events will take place around the country next year, focused on remembering and honouring those who took part in the Easter Rising and those who lost their lives. Significant regional events are planned in Athenry, Ashbourne, Enniscorthy, Cork and Kerry, to reflect the special importance attached to these locations during the events of 1916.

On Easter Monday, 28 March, 2016, synchronised wreath-laying ceremonies will take place in Athenry, Ashbourne, Enniscorthy and Cork at 1.15 p.m., the time the first shots of the 1916 Rising were fired. Each of these four regional events comprises a significant community and cultural element, which will reflect the special significance of the 1916 Rising in that part of the country, and the formal State ceremonial element, which will include the synchronised wreath-laying ceremony.

The 2016 project team has been collaborating with the relevant local authorities to develop the programme for each event. These local authorities have been taking the lead role in working with all stakeholders to develop the programme content, as well as the arrangements for the community and cultural element of the ceremony. The format for the State ceremonial element has been developed in consultation with the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, in accordance with the relevant military protocols and, as such, is not subject to change.

Galway County Council is developing a fitting and imaginative programme for the ceremonial event taking place in Athenry on Easter Monday 2016. The council has been assisted in this process by the Ireland 2016 project team, the Office of Public Works, the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. In particular, the 2016 project office and these other stakeholders have been working with the local authority to assist it in selecting the most suitable site in Athenry for the commemoration.

They have visited the site and met with the relevant local representatives involved in the event. The most critical factors that determine the selection of the site of the wreath-laying ceremony in Athenry are issues around public safety and the capacity of the site to accommodate the large crowds expected to attend this event. The local authority, in consultation with the 2016 project team, formed the view that the most suitable site that can accommodate the logistics and practical arrangements required to successfully deliver an event of this scale, in accordance with the protocols required for a formal State ceremonial event of this nature, is the town park adjacent to Athenry Castle.

The location of the commemorative garden at Back Lawn is undoubtedly of special significance, as it is the site on which Liam Mellows trained volunteers from the county in the lead-up to the 1916 Easter Rising. The ceremony programme for the event in Athenry on Easter Monday will recognise the significant role played by Liam Mellows and the Galway Volunteers while the community element of the event will include a re-enactment to reflect the history of Athenry.

The selection of the site of the wreath-laying ceremony is a matter for Galway County Council, based on advice from the Ireland 206 project team, the Office of Public Works and the Defence Forces. However, the Minister has asked her officials to explore with Galway County Council other possibilities that might be found, outside of the formal State ceremonial event on Easter Monday, for incorporating the commemorative garden into the plans in Galway to commemorate the important role played by the Galway Volunteers in the events of the 1916 Rising.

The event planned in Athenry will be a fitting tribute to all those in Athenry and the surrounding area who took part in the events of 1916.

Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for this detailed response. I am a little disappointed that the main ceremony will not be held at the Back Lawn site. While I acknowledge public safety concerns have to be of paramount importance, the town park is a good distance from the site. If it is the most suitable for it, there is little I can do about it, however. I am glad the Minister is looking at having a separate event at the commemorative garden. Some side event should be held there, given the significance of the Back Lawn where Liam Mellows congregated with his comrades in 1916. It would be particularly fitting for the Athenry Tidy Towns committee and the commemorative committee for all the work they have done in this regard. It would also be an acknowledgement of their fund-raising efforts and work to make a commemorative garden, leaving a lasting legacy for the people of Athenry after the 1916 commemoration events.I respect and acknowledge that the Senator has accepted that we cannot move on this for reasons of public safety and other issues. However, the Minister's intention to do something is obvious. If the Senator has ideas she should bring them forward. The Minister will be more than receptive once it is done through Galway County Council. Any idea would be worthwhile and seriously looked at.

Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State.