Taoiseach's department defends Easter Rising

A vigorous defence of the 1916 Rising has been posted on the Department of the Taoiseach website at www.taoiseach.gov.ie

It says the Rising must be viewed against the backdrop of "ongoing frustration within nationalist Ireland at the lack of progress on Home Rule, the prospect that it would not even be for the whole island, reinforced by the refusal of the British war office to allow the creation of a distinctly Irish brigade, and its rejection of even an Irish divisional badge", all of which were compounded by abhorrence of the executions" of 1916 leaders.

There was also the "continuing threat of conscription".

It points out that the formation by unionists of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1912 "represented an attempt to prevent the implementation of the third Home Rule Bill by the threat of force and precipitated the formation of the nationalist Irish Volunteers".

That bill was placed on the statute book, not to come into effect until after the war, when it was planned to negotiate special arrangements to meet Ulster Unionist objections, it says.

Against this backdrop the 1916 Rising was organised, it states. Public opinion initially opposed the insurgents "due to lack of understanding of the purpose, as well as the loss of life; the carnage and bloodshed. However, this was to quickly change."

Suppression of the Rising was "immediate and vigorous". Dublin city centre was shelled, martial law was extended across the country with "over 3,500 people arrested - over twice the number who took part in the Rising. By May, 1,600 had been interred in Wales, without trial."

The executions "provoked public outrage" and "rapidly turned public opinion. The long drawn out period of the executions - nine days - further inflamed public opinion."