History

Time for a new Proclamation?

As the Centenary of the 1916 Rising draws near, we invite six people - a journalist, an artist, activists and economists - to write a new Proclamation for today's Ireland

Sat Apr 4 2015 - 18:00

The Proclamation of 1916 is among Ireland's best known historical documents. Almost 100 years after its publication, it continues to exercise a profound effect on the Irish imagination. In some ways it has not dated but, 99 years on, does it work for 21st-century Ireland?

The Irish Times has asked six people – journalist Fintan O’Toole; disability activist Joanne O’Riordan;  theatre maker Grace Dyas, environmentalist Oisin Coghlan; economist Constantin Gurdgiev; and author Gerard O’Neill – to compose new proclamations for today’s Ireland.

We’ve borrowed the idea from the official State Centenary Programme for 2016, launched this week. Its “Proclamation for a New Generation” project begins in schools in the next academic year, and will invite primary and secondary students to write a new proclamation that reflects the “values and aspirations of the generation of 2016”.

Want to read more?

[ John A Murphy: What purpose would a new Proclamation serve in the 21st century? ]

[ Look Closley: an interactive guide to the 1916 proclamation ]

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