The signatories to the Proclamation of Independence looked on impassively from the walls of the CBS school assembly hall in Inchicore, Dublin, yesterday as an era ended.
The event gave the lie to that bit about cherishing the children of the nation equally. What the organisers believe was the last summer project for the children of St Michael's Estate and the surrounding area was coming to an end.
It is likely to be the last because the teachers who kept it going for five years will both have moved on to new schools in September, taking with them a debt of more than £3,000.
The extraordinary fact is that the two teachers had to go off and borrow the money themselves to run the summer project.
The families in St Michael's cannot afford the fees charged at most summer camps. The low-cost project at the CBS school, which borders St Michael's Estate, gave some children the happiest summers of their lives.
It's probably over for good now. Yesterday Mr Seamus O'Neill, who had come back from his new school to help run the project, and Mr Brian Shanly, who leaves the school this summer, were marshalling their volunteers for the last time.
As the children put on their finishing concert with sketches, a Spice Girls act and a dance routine to the Backstreet Boys, the signatories looked on uncomprehendingly and Padraig Pearse looked like he was sucking a lemon.
He needn't fret. Next summer he'll have the school all to himself.