Sir, – It is extraordinary how many columnists and commentators still persist (as in the referendum debate) in misinterpreting the phrase in the 1916 Proclamation,referring to “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”.
It is perfectly clear from the context of this proclamation paragraph that “children” is a poetic or metaphorical term of the period, meaning all Irishmen and Irishwomen on the island whose political and religious differences have been fostered by foreign rule but who will now have equal rights in the new Ireland.
In other words, the famous phrase gives new expression to the oldest and noblest Republican aspiration. It has nothing at all to do with “children’s rights” in the present sense. – Yours, etc,