Sir, – Letters from Alf MacLochlainn (May 10th) and James Connolly Heron (May 11th) bring to mind the most serious defect in the commemoration of the men of 1916: the hijacking of such memorials by the Department of Defence and the use of military show. The legacy of these men and women belongs to all of us, the Irish public, and certainly not to the select few engaged in military activities. Furthermore, the Army of today is not a continuation of the organisations of that era, by any stretch of the imagination.
I have asked before, and am asking now again, that the responsibility for all such commemorations be moved to the Office of an Taoiseach, who represents the people as a whole; with delegation of civil ceremonies to local councils as desired. – Yours, etc,
SEÓIRSE PLUNKETT,
Marlborough Road,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – May I keep the family ties going? Alf MacLochlainn (May 10th) and I share first cousins.
While 1916 was the beginning of the destructive phase of the “fight for Irish freedom”, the constructive phase began in 1893 – a centenary virtually ignored. The Bureau of Military History printed one item: a chronology of the movement for independence, Roneo-ed. In almost 50 years of secondhand bookselling, I have come across only one copy, that from the library of Ernest Blythe (I presented it to the Kilmainham Restoration Committee via my link with Alf MacLochlainn, his uncle, my uncle-in-law). That document started with the foundation of the Gaelic League. Not too long afterwards is listed the next practical step, foundation of Arthur Griffith’s first newspaper and, a few years later, his foundation of Sinn Féin. I believe that a retrospective recognition is well due these events.
I also believe any commemoration of 1916 is hypocritical and nonsensical as long as we remain in thrall to Brussels – 1916 was fought for Ireland's freedom . – Is mise,
CAL HYLAND,
Closheen Lane,
Rosscarbery,
Co Cork.