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A NATIONAL COMMEMORATION for the Irish Civil War is taking place in the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin today as a part of events for the Decade of Centenaries.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin will be in attendance along with relatives of those who were directly impacted by the Civil War for the ceremony today.
Other members of government are expected to be present for the occasion which seeks to provide a healing moment of reconciliation on the Civil War.
The commemoration will include musical and spoken-word performances from the Combined Band of the Defence Forces, Cór Linn Youth Choir and various solo performers.
The Decade of Centenaries, launched in 2012, was an initiative set up by the the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to complement many State commemorations.
The initiative, now in it’s final year, set up groups who would plan the commemorations and also highlighted the the period’s social and economic history, as well as documenting Irish emigration.
Last Wednesday marked 100 years since the end of the Irish Civil War, which saw the Free State government split into two groups because of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.
The two groups, Pro-Treaty and Anti-Treaty forces, put down their weapons on 24 May 1923 after a ceasefire was called and weapons were dumped.
The event will be broadcasted on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 12.10pm today, viewers who wish to watch with Irish Sign Language can find coverage on the RTÉ News Now channel.
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Jaysus it’s going to be awkward for fine gael. How many Irish men did they execute without trial again? Was it 70 something?
@quacquac 51: More Republicans were executed by the free state than the British. The civil war was like all civil wars are savage….But for some reason Martin and FF seem to deny their origin and water down which side they took…A least you know where the Blueshirts stand..They just replaced British conservatives with Irish conservatives.
@quacquac 51: 83 plus more than 100 murdered by Free State forces and left on the side of the road or on mountain sides.
@quacquac 51: Execute without trial again? What happened the first time?
They’d never miss a photo opportunity!!
I thought these two guys were trying to start it up again last week…….
The leaders and volunteers who died for a Republic must be turning in their graves. Seeing the supposedly two opposition parties in bed together. Weak leaders leading even weaker parties.
@Mick McGuinness: No. I remember our grandparents relief when it stopped. They were all drained, battle-weary. There’s almost nothing worse than a civil war.
Except what followed – Loyalists & IRA murdering and bombing.
I’m certain they would be proud and greatly relieved after all the horror of wartime to see our Dáil building and people talking freely together.
They would appreciate the Garden of Remembrance.
They would have been horrified at the thousands homeless. In the thriving Ireland of 2023, they would never have believed that could happen.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: they would be delighted to see the way in which a multitude of proprietors in the hospitality industry have found innovative ways to house the homeless from abroad.
@Fiona Fitzgerald:
“There’s almost nothing worse than a civil war”
Liam Adams working in a youth club
FFG should hang their heads in shame at the terror they inflicted on the Irish people during the civil war
@Ronan Skelly:
and what about SF and the IRA
Nice to see Hypocrisy is alive and well, they shud honour these men by staying away.
Surprised they won’t need security to keep them apart during the ceremony. I mean both were acting like Billy big b*lls last week tryin to blame each other for the mess of the country cos we can all assume an election isn’t far off with FFG tryin to convince the media and public they are somehow now completely different parties despite being in bed together spooning each other the past two years….
The civil war is over. The people of Ireland lost. Move forward.
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