Madam, - Sometimes in life, as in detective stories, it is the small things that are most significant. They provide a clue to the unravelling of a mystery or even a controversy. Faced by the debate in your columns over the merits of the Easter Rising of 1916, I would suggest that Frank J Convey (April 17th) has provided such a clue.
Mr Convey draws our attention to Patrick Pearse's love of the environment, citing one of his educational principles that "if our boys observe their fellow-citizens of the grass and woods and water as wisely and as lovingly as they should, I think they will learn much". It is of interest to relate Dáil Éireann's attempt to implement the environmental ideals of Pearse and then to record the response of the British Government. A Director of Agriculture was appointed by the Dáil and, August 20th, 1919, he supported a plan for reafforestation and endorsed a proposal that every farmer "should plant at least 16 trees, ie a tree to represent each man shot in Easter Week". This proposal was acted upon on November 29th, 1919, which was declared to be National Arbor Day. On that day Arthur Griffith planted a ceremonial tree in Dublin. At the same time it was proposed to create a National Land Bank to tackle the land question.
It is significant that the Director of Agriculture was Robert Barton: not only was he a Protestant landowner from Co Wicklow, but also he had been in the ranks of the British army during the Easter Rising. Among those he appointed to the committee of the National Land Bank were Erskine Childers and Lionel Smith Gordon, both of whom were also Protestants. In such a context the charges of sectarianism made against those who supported the ideals of 1916, notably by Paul Bew on April 15th, are found to be baseless.
The response of the British government to the planned reforms of Robert Barton was also significant. Barton was arrested in January 1920; tried under the Defence of the Realm Act (effectively trial by court martial); and held in prison in Portland until the War of Independence was over. Strenuous efforts were also made to suppress the working of the National Land Bank. In such a context I would suggest that those who in your columns have written off the ideals of the Easter Rising as negative or harmful have much to reflect upon. If the British government was prepared to take such firm measures against one minister doing his best for the environment, it was hardly to be expected that any sympathy would be shown to the wider ideals of national freedom and independence.
The debate will continue. In the meantime it would possibly be a good idea for various interest groups to start planting 16 trees in memory not only of those who died in 1916 but also to show their concern for the environment. - Yours, etc,
Dr BRIAN P MURPHY osb, Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick.
Madam, - Stephen Collins (April 22) writes about the attempt by the Taoiseach to manipulate history for party political advantage and the glaring omissions contained in his speech at the opening of the 1916 Exhibition at the National Museum.
In fact the most blatant revision of history by the Taoiseach in that speech and in the commemorations concerned the role of the Labour Party in 1916 and the foundation of the Irish State. In addition to the documents Stephen Collins highlights as having been omitted by the Taoiseach in his speech at the National Museum the Taoiseach neglected to mention the Democratic Programme adopted by the First Dáil in 1919, which was drafted by Labour Leader Thomas Johnson. The Democratic Programme was a continuation of the republican and socialist ideals of James Connolly which declared "the right of every citizen to an adequate share of the Nation's produce".
Most incredibly, on the Taoiseach's website and in the booklet issued to mark the 1916 commemorations on Easter Sunday, while it was mentioned that James Connolly "founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party" there was no reference whatever to the fact that Connolly founded the Irish Labour Party and was a member of its national executive when he was executed in 1916. - Yours, etc,
Senator JOANNA TUFFY, (Labour), Seanad Éireann, Dublin 2.