Time to re-embrace the spirit of 1916

Some years ago, Prime Time did an excellent programme on the subject of reclaiming 1916. It included a vox pop, the clear result of which was that the people in the street most definitely favoured its celebration, citing the fact that other countries were proud to commemorate their national day.

Since then, our prosperity and the worldwide national pride we enjoyed in those halcyon days have taken an appalling, almost fatal nose-dive. With people’s jobs gone, their homes are in jeopardy and we are all frightfully fearful of our nation’s future. Discussing the commemoration of 1916 comes a poor second to putting bread on the table. Whilst acknowledging our collective grief, though, life does proceed regardless.
Although the contribution of historical giants such as Charles Stewart Parnell and Theobald Wolfe Tone should never be forgotten, it is a fact that prior to 1916, Ireland was not a democracy.
Now, there is a general consensus that the events of 1916 should be given their rightful place in history. Independence days are celebrated worldwide in various countries. Because of the events of almost 40 years, we have a clandestine relationship with our day, taking it out for a placatory, surreptitious acknowledgment occasionally. We then rapidly re-confine it, much as we would a deranged aunt who may offend our neighbours, were we to parade her before their sensitive eyes.
Republicanism became a four-letter word in this generation. In the recent past, attempts were made to hold our heads up proudly again, restoring our collective national pride. However, all efforts to declare our republicanism, in the pure and true sense of the word, were hijacked by thugs who took to the streets in their pursuit of mayhem, skulduggery and absolute opportunism.
This Easter Sunday, a low-key commemoration will take place outside the GPO. There will be no proud parade, though, as in years ago. Low-key? Our Government needs to decide how best to persevere in its decision to reclaim our independence day and proceed accordingly. Either that or hurriedly secrete “the crazy aunt” away in the attic again and let anti-Irish thuggery rule.
The following are excerpts from a speech by President Mary McAleese at a conference The Long Revolution: The 1916 Rising in Context, University College Cork, in 2006:
“…Internationally, in 1916, planet earth was a world of violent conflicts and armies. It was a world where countries operated on the principle that the strong would do what they wished and the weak would endure what they must. There were few, if any, sophisticated mechanisms for resolving territorial conflicts. Diplomacy existed to regulate conflict, not to resolve it.
It was in that context that the leaders of the 1916 Rising saw their investment in the assertion of Ireland’s nationhood. They were not attempting to establish an isolated and segregated territory of ‘ourselves alone’ as the phrase ‘sinn féin’ is so often mistranslated but a free country in which we ourselves could take responsibility for our own destiny, a country that could stand up for itself, have its own distinct perspective, pull itself up by its bootstraps, and be counted with respect among the free nations of Europe and the world.
“In the longer-term, the apparent naïveté of the words of the Proclamation has filled out into a widely shared political philosophy of equality and social inclusion in tune with the contemporary spirit of democracy, human rights, equality and anti-confessionalism.
“Now, in the light of the liberation of women, the development of social partnership, the focus on rights and equality, the ending of the special position of the Catholic Church to mention but a few, we see a much more coherent and wider-reaching, intellectual event than may have previously been noted…”
So, taking that view, we can see that The Rising of 1916 was of infinite value and not merely a bunch of hotheaded idealists, as revisionists would have us believe. Fianna Fáil is rooted and most closely associated with the ethos of 1916 – at that time they were called Sinn Féin. Its celebration should not solely be their prerogative, though. The major political parties in Britain and in Ireland – north and south – now accept the principle that a united Ireland can be accomplished but only with the agreement of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland. And the main (elected) parties in the south favour a united Ireland, as do the SDLP and Sinn Féin in the North.
Bearing all that in mind, why are we almost apologetic in commemorating Easter Sunday 1916? We most definitely should not entrust its celebration to those who have, in the past, debased both those who sacrificed their lives and the Tricolour in our name.