Flanagan outlines ‘Ireland 2016: Global Programme’ at Fine Gael National Conference

Flanagan outlines ‘Ireland 2016: Global Programme’ at Fine Gael National Conference

Focus on reconciliation on the island and presenting Ireland’s achievements to a global audience

*Full text of speech below*

Speaking on ‘Ireland 2016’ at the Fine Gael National Conference, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan TD, emphasised the importance of reconciliation when approaching commemorations.

Speaking to an audience in Castlebar, where 2,000 people are attending, the Minister stated:

“We cannot allow the centenary commemorations themselves to become a divisive issue.  Since the beginning of the Decade of Centenaries in 2012, considerable effort has been invested in commemorating key events in a more inclusive and historically accurate way.

“This has included the Taoiseach and I attending Remembrance Day ceremonies in Northern Ireland.  It has included our Ambassador in London laying a wreath at the cenotaph in London last November for the first time since Ireland became a Republic. This year, it will include senior State and Government representation at events in Turkey to mark Gallipoli. And next year, whilst the commemoration of the Rising, Ireland 2016, will be the centrepiece of the year, I will also be marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in which thousands of Irish of all political hues died, and which has particular resonance among unionist communities in Ireland but was an event which affected all of the island. 

“It is essential that Ireland 2016 is understood in the North to be situated in this context. Over the months ahead, and in particular when the Government’s Ireland 2016 programme is announced before Easter, it will be very important to communicate this clearly to our Northern counterparts. 

“Northern Ireland itself will have to mark its own centenary in five years’ time. Again this will present significant challenges for them.  It is in our mutual best interests to work closely together to encourage a collective North South approach to respecting each others’ key commemorations.”

The Minister also outlined key elements of the Ireland 2016: Global Programme, stating:

“Ireland 2016, like the Rising itself, will take place in a global context, providing the opportunity to present to a global audience a snapshot of Ireland’s achievements.  In this sense, the centenary of the Rising is a time of great opportunity.  

“We also have a good story to tell about our economic recovery which is now taking hold and which has been hard won.  And we take pride in the achievement of many talented Irish people who have left our shores.  We nevertheless want them to come back home and Ireland 2016 is an opportunity to reach out and reconnect with many of these. 

“Elements of the global programme are still being developed but one of the highlights will be a very significant three week ‘Proclaiming Ireland Festival’ in the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC in May 2016.  While the Festival takes 1916 as its point of departure, it will also celebrate our history over the last one hundred years and present the Ireland of today to a wide audience.”

Speech by Charlie Flanagan TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Ireland 2016 Session

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Commemorations:  A Foreign Affairs Perspective

Heather (Humphreys) has set out the five broad themes for Ireland 2016; to remember, reconcile, present, imagine and celebrate; all of which will inform my approach and that of my Department to next year’s centenary commemorations.

However, there are two themes which have a particular resonance from a Foreign Affairs perspective–reconciliationand presenting Ireland.

Reconciliation

I would like to thank Ronan Fanning for his thought-provoking remarks today.  When Ronan spoke at a conference in the Royal Irish Academy last September to mark the 100th anniversary of the Third Home Rule Bill achieving royal assent, he remarked

“We have to learn that British failures were responsible for violence and for the triumph of violence in Ireland.”

Colleagues will appreciate that, at least on its surface, this is a challenging starting point for any attempt to find opportunities for shared remembering and reconciliation in the context of Northern Ireland and British-Irish relations and our Ireland 2016 commemorative programme.    However, as the Initial Statement by the Government’s Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations made clear: “Commemoration should not ignore differences and divisions. The goal of inclusiveness is best achieved, not by trying for an enforced common interest or universal participation in commemorations for events such as the 1916 Rising or the opening of the parliament in Northern Ireland, but by encouraging multiple and plural commemorations which remember the past while ensuring, as far as possible, that commemoration does not re-ignite old tensions.”

And so we cannot allow the centenary commemorations themselves to become a divisive issue. Some academics have even suggested a causal link between the way the 50^th anniversary commemorations in 1966 were carried out and the start of the Troubles.  

We are not coming to this issue cold, however.  Since the beginning of the Decade of Centenaries in 2012, considerable effort has been invested in commemorating key events  in a more inclusive and historically accurate way.   

This has included the Taoiseach and I attending Remembrance Day ceremonies in Northern Ireland.  It has included our Ambassador in London laying a wreath at the cenotaph last November for the first time since Ireland became a Republic.  This year, it will include senior state and government representation at events in Turkey to mark Gallipoli.  And next year, whilst the commemoration of the Rising, Ireland 2016, will be the centrepiece of the year, I will also be marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in which thousands of Irish of all political hues died and which has particular resonance among unionist communities in Ireland but was an event which affected all of the island. 

This broader Decade of Centenaries context and the integrity of the Government’s approach to commemorations over the past number of years is an important backdrop to the coming centenary events. It is essential that Ireland 2016 is understood in the North to be situated in this context. Over the months ahead, and in particular when the Government’s Ireland 2016 programme is announced before Easter, it will be very important to communicate this clearly to our Northern counterparts. 

And I want to state quite frankly that there is a nervousness across many political representatives and community leaders in the North about the centenary of the Rising and how it will be commemorated.  In a political context where the annual marking of a 1690 battle can still lead to violence on the streets, this anxiety should not be surprising.

Northern Ireland itself will have to mark its own centenary in five years’ time.  Again this will present significant challenges for them.  It is in our mutual best interests to work closely together to encourage a collective North South approach to respecting each others’ key commemorations.  In this regard, I commend the following wise words taken from the aforementioned Initial Statement by the Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations:

“The aim should be to broaden sympathies, without having to abandon loyalties.”

Whilst I do not want to stray too much in my remarks off the subject of commemorations, I do want to make the point that our approach to commemorations sits very comfortably alongside our general approach to North South relations.  I will be attending a key meeting in Belfast this coming week with the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland where we will be looking to agree a paper on new areas of North South cooperation.  This development arises out of the recent Stormont House Agreement which in itself has created a more benign climate for North South relations.

Through my Department’s Reconciliation Fund, we have supported dozens of community level commemorative projects and other community projects across Northern Ireland and the border counties in recent years and will continue to do so.  We have developed online support materials for teachers in Northern Ireland to address contentious commemorations, we have supported Belfast City Council to host a ‘Shared History Different Allegiances’ exhibition on the Irish and Ulster volunteers and we are working with groups such as the Unionist Centenaries Committee and county museums south of the border on a range of programmes and exhibitions which challenge the simplistic and binary narratives of some more partisan groups.   

We will continue to invest in the North South relationship because looking to the next hundred years, as Ireland 2016 invites us to do, we have no other more important, more immediate political relationship.    And so our approach to commemorations will remain a key part of our work, just as the Stormont House talks were, of repairing the legacy of the past, building respectful and trusting relations with all communities in Northern Ireland and constructing  a strong all—island economy. 

Ireland 2016:  Global Programme

Ireland 2016, like the Rising itself, will take place in a global context, providing the opportunity to present to a global audience a snapshot of Ireland’s achievements.  In this sense, the centenary of the Rising is a time of great opportunity.  

We have many positive stories to tell abroad in terms of the past one hundred years, of our creativity, our peace process, our contribution to peace-keeping and to the fight against hunger, the achievements of our people at home and abroad.  We also have a good story to tell about our economic recovery which is now taking hold and which has been hard won.  And we take pride in the achievement of many talented Irish people who have left our shores.  We nevertheless want them to come back home and Ireland 2016 is an opportunity to reach out and reconnect with many of these. 

This global messaging and outreach will be the work of our embassies abroad over the coming 18 months.  Many of them are already involved in detailed planning for a range of commemorative, public diplomacy, cultural and community events.   A comprehensive Global programme will be ready by the end of this month and I will be sending it to Heather (Humphreys) to form part of the overall Government programme.   

Overseas, St. Patrick’s Day events this year will be a uniquely important opportunity to highlight the Government’s plans for ‘Ireland 2016’ and particularly its global programme. I have asked my Department to work closely with the Project 2016 team on this.  In my travels abroad I have picked up on a keen interest among the Irish diaspora to be part of this significant moment of national commemoration and reflection.

Elements of the global programme are still being developed but one of the highlights will be a very significant three week ‘Proclaiming Ireland Festival’ in the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC in May 2016.  While the Festival takes 1916 as its point of departure, it will also celebrate our history over the last one hundred years and present the Ireland of today to a wide audience.

The launch and live simultaneous screening around the world of a University of Notre Dame documentary on the Rising around the St. Patrick’s Festival next year will also be an important platform for diaspora gatherings organised through our Embassy network.

In Britain, our Embassy in London is planning a flagship weekend of events focused on culture, diaspora and remembrance.  All our Embassies are working closely with Culture Ireland and with the national institutions here in Ireland to bring high quality events and exhibitions to global audiences.   I am glad that Jimmy (Deenihan) is here today and I know that he shares with me the importance of the diaspora dimension of the overall Government programme. 

We will need to consider also, whether in terms of the domestic Ireland 2016 programme there may be events where it may well be appropriate to invite our international partners, at a suitable level, to join with us to reflect on the events of 1916 and to mark this key moment on Ireland’s path to independence and place amongst the nations of the world. 

Clearly, some of the events planned will be moments for national, rather than international, commemoration, as may be the case for the Easter  Sunday  programme on the 27^th March 2016 and the actual centenary of the start of the Rising on 24^th April 2016.  However, as a Global Island, it is important that we mark this very significant centenary with the international friends and partners we have built up over the past one hundred years and who will be vital to us as we embark on our next one hundred.