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Updated 6pm in light of Luas strike announcement
THE MAIN STATE events of the 1916 centenary take place in Dublin this weekend.
There are events scheduled between Saturday and Monday, with the centrepiece – the city centre parade and GPO wreath-laying – happening on Sunday.
Around half a million people are expected in the city over Sunday morning and afternoon, and transport providers are laying on plenty of extra services to cater for the expected surge in demand.
So what’s happening?
Which events will be open to the public, and which won’t?
Your questions, answered…
Because it’s Easter.
The actual day of the start of the rebellion may have been on 24 April in 1916 – however, most of the official ceremonies and parades are taking place over Easter. Annual State ceremonies to mark the Rising have been held on that weekend in recent years.
A separate commemorative event at Arbour Hill, including a Requiem Mass to be attended by President Higgins and other dignitaries, will take place on 24 April.
The Easter Sunday Parade is the main event of the day and of the weekend. This year’s event will stretch for 4.5km through central Dublin and will involve more than 3,700 members of the Defence Forces, along with emergency services staff and Army veterans.
The parade will start at 10am at Stephen’s Green and finish at Bolton Street at around 3. The main commemoration ceremony happens outside the GPO at noon, where the parade will pause.
The President will lay a wreath on behalf of the people of Ireland during the ceremony and there will be a minute’s silence for all those who died. The National Flag on top of the GPO will then be raised to full mast and the ceremony will conclude with the playing of the National Anthem. There will also be a fly-past by the Air Corps.
Yes, it’s the main public event of the weekend, however space along O’Connell Street is expected to be limited – particularly around the lower and middle section of the street. Space has been reserved for 5,000 1916 relatives and some 1,000 invited guests in the area, including politicians and members of religious orders.
Viewing screens are also being set up in five locations around the city at:
There’ll also be a three part wreath laying ceremony at Glasnevin at 9.30am, and one at Kilmainham Gaol at 10.30am to be attended by the President.
The Taoiseach is hosting a State Reception with 2,000 relatives and 1,000 other guests at Dublin Castle, and a special concert ‘A Nation’s Voice’ with choral singers and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra takes place at Collins Barracks.
Yes and no. Tickets for the Glasnevin event were allocated to members of the public on a first-come-first-served basis, but supply has now run out. The event at the Stone Breakers Yard in Kilmainham is in an extremely limited space so only around 35 invited guests are attending. It will be shown live on RTÉ One.
The State Reception is only open to the 3,000 invited guests of the Taoiseach. Tickets for the concert were available to the public via lottery, but the draw has long since taken place and all places have been allocated. It will be broadcast live on RTÉ.
The main event of the day will be a ceremony with music and poetry at the Garden of Remembrance at the top of O’Connell Street, to be attended by the President.
Described on the official website as “a ceremony in two parts to remember and honour those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom” it will last around 75 minutes. It takes place at noon.
There’s also a State Event for 1916 Relatives taking place at the RDS, with around 4,000 people attending.
The one at the Garden of Remembrance is, but numbers will be restricted because of space limitations. A large number of relatives are on the invite list.
The RDS event is by invite only. The places have been allocated based on a registration system operated by the Department of Defence.
Wreath-laying ceremonies will take place at six iconic sites associated with the Rising, with a government minister presiding over each one. The ceremonies take place at 1.15pm, the time when the first shots of the Rising were fired in 1916.
The events take place at Boland’s Mill, the Jacobs Factory (now the National Archives), Dublin Castle/City Hall, The Four Courts, the Royal College of Surgeons, Moore Street and St. James’s Hospital.
RTÉ’s Reflecting the Rising also takes place – with hundreds of talks, walking tours, music, dance and street theatre events planned. What’s being described as a ‘Broadcast Event’ by RTÉ takes place in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on Monday night, and the first show in a concert series ‘Imagining Home’ will be performed at the National Concert Hall.
The first two are very open indeed – according to organisers the wreath-layings are free to access and “a small number of seats will be provided at each location for those who require one”.
Large crowds are expected at Reflecting the Rising, which includes events scheduled across the day from 11am. Indoor events are ticketed though (more details here).
Limited tickets were released for the ‘Centenary’ concert at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, but that process has now finished. Tickets for the first night of ‘Imagining Home’, which includes appearances by Rosanne Cash, Paul Brady and Maura O’Connell, are still available, and cost from €22.50 (at least, they were available when we tried to buy them last night).
In the main, leave the car at home.
Expect road closures throughout the city centre area on Sunday (although O’Connell Street will stay closed from Friday right through Monday) and if you’re planning on attending a specific event leave plenty of time to get there.
Extra bus and rail services are being laid on to get people to the capital, and for those travelling in from the suburbs there’ll be an increased frequency of Dart services. Some Dublin Bus routes will end further away from the city than usual on Sunday due to the parade.
If you normally travel by Luas, note that a strike has been announced affecting all tram services on Sunday and Monday.
And if you’re not planning on having anything to do with the 1916 commemorations, you’re best off staying out of the city centre altogether on Sunday and Monday.
For a full list of transport options this weekend click here and for a comprehensive list of everything that’s going on check this out. For an extremely hassle-free day, you can simply watch the parade on TV on Sunday. Coverage starts on RTÉ One from 9.30am.
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To be fair…it takes a bigger person to acknowledge they are not the best person for the job. Next question is…who is?
@Dramafree 2023: Hopefully, someone with balls to stand up for Ireland
@Dramafree 2023: me.
@Dramafree 2023: Very good decision for his party. Again he surprised me. Not a typical politician glued to his chair.
@Dramafree 2023: No, it just takes a man who knows his time is up. Like the other ten, he will jump ship because he recognises the impending defeat he has led his party to through the relentless pursuit of foreign agendas ahead of the interests of the Irish people.
@Dramafree 2023: I expect a narcissist of his type to move onto big EU role shortly.
@Dramafree 2023: only took him 7 years
Trying to pretend this is no big deal?…election time now needed…the resignation of Taoiseach is a big deal this government cannot continue
So, just wait now for the inevitable scandal, and real reason for running for the hills, to be revealed. I’m sure he’ll ride off into the sunset with his palms we’ll greased. Rotten to the core.
@Michael Fielding: sure if no scandal comes to pass the conspiracy theorists will make up one
@Dan Ryan: The scandal is his political career. No theories required.
Something is off with this. Looks like he was pushed. Coveney trying not to look smug. Hopefully a general election will happen, not another ‘leader’ who does not represent the wishes of the Irish people, especially one who has publicly stated that they want to double our population
@Tilal Moore:they were going to have a no confidence vote on him as leaders. Which he would have lost . So saved him self Embarrassment
@Tilal Moore: You missed out a word. “Who does not represent the wishes of “some of” the Irish people…”.
You can’t claim that ALL Irish people have the same views as yourself.
@Tilal Moore: Where did he publicly state that he wants to double our population?
@Jason Memail: That was Coveney in 2017 & in 2018 that Cork’s population would treble by 2038
@Sal Paradise: obviously no leader could represent the wishes of all Irish people. We do need someone though who will listen to the concerns of the majority on important issues like healthcare, immigration planning, carer support etc. A general election is the fairest way of allowing the general public to use their voice
You never where the best for the job
@Navanman: why don’t you put your name down for it then
@Navanman: *were
@Fiona Wyse: That’s the kind of quizzical retort you’d expect from a 6 year old.
St Patrick’s revenge.
@JP: best comment so far lmao!
Don’t be fooled into believing this was honourable. There is no honour in that man. He ran from a sinking ship. His name will still be attached to the many many screw ups.. He achieved nothing!
@Eoghan Augusta: he did achieve something though… he’s completely fecked us all over and now he gets to walk away from his mess. Probably has a cushy job in thr EU set up now.
@Morticia Byrne: How, with full employment, a booming economy, majority of people own their own home, airlines and airports packed with holiday makers, you couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a new car ?
The government are setting up an enquiry into the reasons he resigned it will be headed up by Judge Judy.
He never was the best person for the job.
He’s pulling a Bertie, the coward!! He stopped being the best person for the job when the government allowed rent prices to soar to ridiculous levels that they are now at
In the photo, he is turning him back to the camera .just like the way he has turned his back to the Irish people on so many occasions
You never were the best person for the job. Just a little Torieboy boot licker.
You ruined our country . Now take your fg/FF buddies with you. The hardship and damage you have caused on working class people is unbelievable. Maggie Thatcher would be proud of you.
Brilliant at the beginning of pandemic, and if you don’t recognise this you’re fooling yourself, but quite bad on the big issues like housing and health system. Yes, indeed, he was perfect for the rich, for lgbt (no pb with that), but not everybody is rich or gay. He shouldn’t allowed this housing crisis, that’s absolutely incredible the way we are in now where the medium rent in Dublin is 80% of a medium wage.
@Chris: Yes, the memorable quotes from Mean Girls in his national address at the Covid outset was truly brilliant. A true statesman. Definitely not an infantile narcissist.
Good riddance
Don’t like the guy or his party, but that takes balls in fairness. He’s gone up.in my estimations. He’s now at a sum total of 1
Why do I feel like I want to open a bottle of Prosecco. This is the best news from the government in years.
FG have made no progress/improvements In the polls during Varadkar’s 7 year tenure. They have lost several by-elections and just recently the 2 referendums, in what was a disastrous result. The worst leader in FG’s history and one of the worst Taoisigh – he won’t be missed.
Considering he and ffg have had power since the foundation of the state and civil war politics are nearly finished, The grift will go on and on and on ,ps as much as I disagree with the man’s politics , I believe in democracy and he is the leader of of government and I respect that office,
That took a long time to come to that realization…
I think I must be mad, because I believe all those who enter politics should be admired and respected no matter what their political leaning. It is not easy having your family life upset and the unnecessary vile criticism of you constantly. All TDs enter the Dail to do the best they can for the country and not for the money. If it was for money we would have thousands on each ballot paper. All politicians get it wrong but then the are human. As a wise man once said ” he who makes no mistakes knows nothing “
@finbarr walsh: ya you’re mad
All I’ll say is thank God we had a Taoiseach who was a doctor at the start of the pandemic.
@Dawn O’Shea: And while we were building a new children’s hospital too. Made all the difference. Great work Leo.
@Dawn O’Shea: Yes, I’ll remember him for his efforts during the pandemic. He did more there and then to help Irish people and I’ve heard English people praising him and wishing their country had had better oversight. He also volunteered when he didn’t have to. Credit where it’s due; he did his part.
He never was the best person for the job!
“… Continue going forward” , “protect all that’s been achieved…” The man is deluded, the country hasn’t been in this bad a state for a long, long time. I struggled to watch that video, FFS, the guy is starting to cry at one stage !
Do I see Harris rubbing his hands (see photo) with glee anticipating his chances of being the next Taoiseach?
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