Richard Bruton defends brother’s Easter rising comments

Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton has defended his brother John's decision to highlight the importance of the Home Rule Bill of 1914 but said that the 1916 Easter Rising also deserves to be commemorated by the State.

“We’re in a period of commemorations of a lot of events in Irish history and I think we need to have an understanding of all of those events,” he said. “I think John was right to highlight 1914 and the achievement of Home Rule was a very significant achievement for the Irish parliamentary tradition.

“It hadn’t been achieved under Parnell but we also have to appreciate other developments in Irish history and my view is that commemoration is to commemorate all those events...I think it’s fair to remember both Redmond’s contribution and indeed the contribution of 1916,” he said.

John Bruton, a former taoiseach, last month argued that the passing of the Home Rule for Ireland in 1914 should be commemorated as a significant milestone in Irish history and, as it was not going to be reversed, the use of violence in the Easter Rising was not justifiable.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney took issue with the former Fine Gael leader over his comments about the Easter Rising and said he did not believe that John Bruton was reflecting the views of many in Fine Gael.

Mr Coveney said he did not believe John Bruton had recognised “the emotional attachment” many Irish people had to 1916, particularly in relation to its aftermath and how it was handled by the British and that should not be underestimated.

“I think Irish people are very emotionally attached to 1916 as a pivotal point in Irish history and to suggest it wasn’t a significant event towards the achieving of Irish independence, I don’t think is a fair reflection and in many ways denigrates people and families who deserve better.”

But asked about his brother's comments, Richard Bruton, speaking in Waterford, struck a more conciliatory note, saying that he believed it was possible to commemorate the contributions of both John Redmond and the men and woman of 1916 to Irish history.

“I’m not going to pass judgement on history, I’m not a historian, I’m a politician but I think we have to understand all of the traditions and the strands and that’s what commemoration is about and I think we can learn from all traditions,” he said.

“There were very different views 100 years ago, these were hotly contested issues at the time - it’s hard enough managing affairs in 2016, I’m not going to back to try and divine which sides were right 100 years ago.

“They are part of tradition and a period of commemoration is commemoration, it is not about taking one side or believing one side is greater than the other and that’s what I think - it’s a time to understand our past and hopefully that is a benefit to us all.”