Easter Rising parades being held
BBC
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Nationalists and republicans have been staging Easter Rising commemorations
Irish President Mary McAleese inspects troops outside the GPO
Thousands of people lined Dublin’s O’Connell Street for a military parade, including an Irish Air Corps fly-past.
The ceremony was attended by Irish President Mary McAleese and taoiseach Bertie Ahern, along with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The events mark the attempt in 1916 to seize Dublin from British imperial forces. The rebellion was put down with many ringleaders captured and executed.
In the early 1970s, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the military parades were stopped and Dublin’s official commemorations became more low-key before being brought back in 2006 upon the 90th anniversary.
Heavy fighting took place in central Dublin in 1916
Thousands of people turned out for the Dublin parade, which included a wreath-laying ceremony, military marching bands and a fly-past salute.
The centrepiece of the event was a reading of the proclamation, as read out in Easter 1916 by rising figurehead Padraig Pearse at the General Post Office.
The SDLP’s Margaret Ritchie and Alasdair McDonnell were also at the Dublin event.
It was one of more than 100 commemorations being held, including some organised by Sinn Féin.
