Daniel O'Connell, the
19th-Century ‘Liberator’
whose name was indelibly
linked with the Repeal
cause championed by this
newspaper in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. Dear Editor, Dr Eamon Phoenix’s dismissal as “simplistic” attempts to link the Rising centenary with dissident violence in the North (IC 10/03/2016) is both reassuring and persuasive. Even in 1966, at a time when Catholics in the North were denied some basic civil rights, the Rising’s 50th anniversary provoked little republican violence, the destruction of Nelson’s Pillar aside.
Also encouraging was Dr Phoenix’s claims of Northern curiosity about the Rising, especially how he said 300 people gathered in a Church of Ireland hall where he was speaking about the 1916 insurrection.
Too much weight should not be given, however, to how Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster attended a seminar on the Rising in Dublin, as she has refused to attend any commemorations, claiming that to do so would “give succour to violent republicanism”. The First Minister might gain from attending one of Dr Phoenix’s classes!
Yours etc.,
Cathal Kavanagh,
Drogheda,
Co. Lout