Madam, – Tom Stokes (May 2nd) vents his outrage at the State for what he perceives as a lack of importance shown to the commemorations of the 1916 Rising. Mr Stokes goes on to list several factors to which he attributes the low attendance of the military parade on O’Connell Street on Easter Sunday.
What Mr Stokes fails to understand is that the reason so few people attend these commemorations is not because of any lack of information, limited viewing areas, inadequate sound systems, moderate security measures, perceived bias towards dignitaries, below-par military drills or unsatisfactory music choice. No, the reason so few people marked the commemorations is purely down to a lack of interest. Mr Stokes believes that his group held a more “sincere, inclusive, dignified and meaningful commemoration” than the Government, yet, as he admitted, only a “small group of citizens” even attended this.
The truth is that if asked, the majority of citizens will honestly tell of their admiration for the sacrifices made during the Easter Rising but that admiration, it would seem, does not extend past their armchairs.
Instead of asking the Government for an apology, Mr Stokes should ask some of the other 4.5 million citizens who did not attend either commemoration, the reasoning behind their absence. The sad reality is that while feelings of patriotism and nationalism runs deep in this country, many simply do not feel the need to outwardly express these on an annual basis. – Yours, etc,