Noel Whelan: Sinn Féin is misrepresenting Countess Markievicz

Mary Lou McDonald’s centenary rhetoric fails of take account of historical reality

‘Mary Lou McDonald   failed to mention that Markievicz was among those TDs who left Sinn Féin in 1926 because of its refusal to change its hardline stance on the issue of taking the oath of allegiance.’ Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

‘Mary Lou McDonald failed to mention that Markievicz was among those TDs who left Sinn Féin in 1926 because of its refusal to change its hardline stance on the issue of taking the oath of allegiance.’ Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

The history which surrounds the origins of our State is complex. We attained our independence through a combination of democratic parliamentary effort and violent revolutionary action. Neither of these traditions can be denied.

The various centenary commemorations around the 1916 Rising and again more recently around the first Dáil has been impressive, inclusive and respectful. The articulation of that approach has been delicately led by President Michael D Higgins.

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