A ROYAL presence could be a positive thing for British understanding of Ireland’s 1916 commemorations, students claimed at an LSE Irish Society event in London.
“As an English person, from our perspective, I don’t have the first clue about 1916,” an LSE student who attended the event held on St Patrick’s Day said.
“So I think a royal going to Dublin next year would promote debate in Ireland and in the UK about what happened, which would be a good thing – we need to know where we have come from in order to move forward,” he added.
The comments came after a panel of Irish speakers discussed the plans for 1916 commemorations, how it should be marked in Ireland next year and whether a royal presence would be appropriate.
“With regards to 1916, the thing is how do we engage with it as a milestone?” Bryan Patten, Executive Director of the Washington Ireland Programme, said.
“How it engages with the royal family is a side issue to be honest,” the guest speaker added, “what we really need to think about is what was the vision for the Irish State in 1916, what is the State now and what will it be in the future.”
He explained: “There are a ton of opportunities for 1916 commemorations, in 2016 and all the way up to 2022, to think about what we want the State to be and how it will look in the future.”
During the event Declan Morrin, Economic Counsellor at the Irish Embassy in London, revealed that the government’s 1916 commemorative plans were already well underway, explaining: “The programme developed for the commemoration will focus on five themes, covering remembering the past, reconciling it and respecting all the traditions on the island, then we will look to the future - imagining our future and celebrating our achievements.”
He added: “We will try and steer away from contentious flashpoints and use this as an opportunity to move another step forward and highlight all the good things about Ireland now, 100 years after 1916.”
