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Opening Words by President Michael D. Higgins
President Michael D. Higgins with participants for Machnamh 100 – Seminar Two
An tUachtarán Micheál D. Ó hUigínn le rannpháirtithe Machnamh 100 – Seimineár a Dó
Left to right: President Michael D. Higgins, Professor Eunan O’Halpin, Professor Alvin Jackson, Dr Marie Coleman and Dr Niamh Gallagher and Professor John Horne
Ó chlé go deas: an tUachtarán Micheál D. Ó hUigínn, an tOllamh Eunan O’Halpin, an tOllamh Alvin Jackson, an Dr Marie Coleman, an Dr Niamh Gallagher agus an tOllamh John Horne
We are currently engaged in a Decade of Commemorations which has allowed us, as a nation, to revisit and re-engage with those seminal events of a century ago, that were to have such profound effects on the societies and jurisdictions that emerged on this island, and on our relationships with each other and with our neighbours.
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Our commemorative journey to date has allowed us to re-familiarise ourselves with, and think afresh about, key historic moments such as the 1913 Lockout, the First World War, the ‘Spanish Flu’ Pandemic, the 1918 election, and the first Dáil. New scholarship, and perhaps further reflection with the passage of time, has given us an opportunity to hear the history of those who may have been excluded from previous tellings, providing us perhaps with a fuller, more informed, more empathetic understanding. Machnamh 100 is an initiative I have undertaken as Uachtarán na hÉireann to build on this previous work and specifically to allow for reflections on the wider context of, for example, the War of Independence, Civil War and Partition. I have invited leading scholars with diverse perspectives to share their insights on the context and events of that formative period of a century ago and on the nature of the act of commemoration itself.
