AIMSIR
Bhí sé scamallach but, apart from short and very light showers, thankfully the rain held off until we were packing up.
DAOINE
Bróna (fáilte thar n-ais!), Eileen agus Diarmuid were the foireann inniu (team today). Eileen brought our flags in washed and dried after their soaking last week.
We had a constant stream of individuals and groups coming to our table; it was as though all the people who weren’t there last week because of the rain turned up to sign the petition today, having some interesting conversations and giving us a lot of encouragement. It is particularly heart-warming to see adults coming with children and inviting them to sign.
“IRISH REPUBLIC” FLAG
All the flags we have on or around our weekly stall are copies of those flown during the 1916 Rising, except that of Cumann na mBan (the most artistic one of all), although women in that organisation (and in the Irish Citizen Army) certainly took part.
The “Irish Republic” flag is the only one that was specifically designed for the 1916 Rising and it was painted in Volunteer Constance Markievicz’s house on green material from either a bedspread or a curtain. A man named Theobald Wolfe Tone Fitzgerald painted the words “Irish Republic” with house paints gold and white and it was flown on the GPO roof at the Princes Street corner, the Tricolour at the other.
The damaged “Irish Republic” flag was taken down from the roof on the day after the Rising and was regarded by the British troops as quite a trophy; first a soldier and then officers being photographed with it upside down in front of the Parnell Monument (near the Rotunda garden where the GPO/ Moore Street garrison was kept prisoner after surrender until Sunday). Returned from London’s Imperial War Museum in 1966, it is now in the Collins Barracks Museum.
We were asked today whether that flag had anything to do with a certain Irish fascist organisation which sadly illustrates how such organisations have managed to confuse some people. The fact that the writing calls for a “Republic” shows how far it is from bigotry and racism. In addition the words of the 1916 Proclamation underline the case, guaranteeing “religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities for all” and “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”.
Clearly those objectives have not been lived up to and are yet to be achieved in Ireland.
UASDHÁTA
We are still awaiting the date of Hammerson’s appeal to the High Court against Councillors’ decision to nominate a number of buildings for listing as of historical importance. Presumably DCC’s legal department knows but according to some councillors, they are not telling (!!!).
Also awaiting An Bord Pleanála’s decision on our appeal against DCC’s approval of their planning application over a year ago.
The most effective way to support our campaign is by sharing our posts occasionally on your social media, spreading the story (ag scaipeadh an scéil).
