‘Overwhelming’ response to Easter Rising commemorations

More than 1,800 events have been confirmed for next year’s Easter Rising commemorations.

The public's response to a call for events to be organised has been described as "overwhelming" by John Concannon, the director of the Ireland 2016 programme.

“The energy from citizens to engage with this has been enormous,” he said.

Mr Concannon said the overwhelming view about 2016 was that the events of 100 years ago should be used not to look back, but to “contextualise the actions of the revolutionary generation in the present, as a guide for our future”.

The community programme will be launched by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton today at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, in Dublin.

Public meetings

There will be 31 local authority plans announced, one for each local authority in the country.

Mr Concannon said they set out originally to have 26 public meetings, one for each county, but ended up having 84 because of the interest generated by county committees.

Of the 1,800 events confirmed, 161 will be State and local ceremonies, 540 will be of historical reflection, 152 will have an Irish-language theme and 78 will have a global and diaspora role.

Among the events that will be announced as part of the community programmes is a week-long programme of events in Galway city remembering Eamon Ceannt, one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation.

Cork’s Crawford Gallery will feature more than 70 works of art which chart the changing cultural and political landscape in Ireland in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Films

Kerry Film Festival

will present a specially curated season of films commemorating 1916 and featuring work by local and national institutions and film makers.

The Jackie Clarke Library, in Mayo, will exhibit its collection of 1916 material throughout the year with some items being exhibited in other venues throughout the county.

All 15 scout groups from Wicklow will plant 500 native trees over 16 acres to commemorate those who died in 1916 on March 5th and 6th next year.

More than 3,000 relatives of those who fought in the Rising have expressed an interest in participating in the parade on Easter Sunday next year.

The deadline for expressions of interest was September 30th.

Originally, it was planned that they would take part in the parade, but it is now likely they will be allocated seating on O’Connell Street instead.