Sir, – Your education correspondent Joe Humphreys tells us that the Department of Education and Skills is organising a series of visits to primary schools by Defence Forces staff, in connection with the 1916 centenary, particularly Proclamation Day, March 25th ("Defence Forces to fly flag for 1916 in primary schools", September 8th). It appears that the correct protocol for the display of the national flag will be explained, and that, somewhat surprisingly, "schools can nominate a pupil to read paragraph four" of the Proclamation.
Why is this particular paragraph being selected? Was the Government’s advisory board of historians consulted?
The Minister knows, of course, that the paragraph includes everybody’s favourite Proclamation quotation, “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”.
In fact, the phrase has nothing to do with children but simply means that in a new Ireland nationalist and unionist will be on an equal footing.
Yet almost daily it is wrenched out of historical context to advocate public support for a variety of causes – social equality, educational opportunity, children’s health services, youth homelessness, and most recently, the same-sex referendum.
During 2015, perpetrators of this gross historical misreading have included a past president and serving Government members, including, regrettably, the Minister herself.
Before anybody reads out anything next year, will the Minister do the decent historical thing and issue an apologetic corrective note on paragraph four?
Or, by default, is she going to allow a “childish” error to slide into centenary rhetoric? – Yours, etc,
JOHN A MURPHY,
Emeritus Professor
of History,
University College Cork.