North Tipperary Ógra Fianna Fáil hold annual Easter Sunday commemoration

The Annual North Tipperary Ógra Fianna Fáil 1916 Rising Commemoration took place on Easter Sunday outside the beautifully restored Town Hall in Templemore.

Public Representatives in attendance included Deputy Ryan O’Meara, Cllr Kay Cahill Skehan, Cllr J.P. O’Meara, Cllr Michael Anglim and former Cllr Jim Casey and Gerard Fogarty.

Rachel Regan was MC for the event and began by thanking all those in attendance.

“Today is a day of Remembrance but also a day of celebration, of legacy and leadership”, she said in her address.

“It’s about honouring the past that shaped us and looking ahead to the future that we are building together. In 1916 a group of courageous visionaries stood on the steps of the GPO and proclaimed a Republic, not only in words but in spirit.

“They dreamt of an Ireland that was free, fair and sovereign. Though their dream was not achieved overnight, their bravery lead the way for generations to come. We are one of those generations, the youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow”, Rachel Regan said.

“This year we proudly mark 50 years of Ógra Fianna Fáil, five decades of empowering young people to engage, to speak out and to lead, that’s 50 years of activism, of standing up for Republican values and for shaping a better Ireland. And for the past 20 years the Annual Commemoration has been held here in Templemore, to reflect on our shared history and to renew our commitment to the cause.

“Year after year this gathering reminds us that Republicanism is not only about the past, it’s about the present and the future. Thank you for being here, for caring and for being part of something that matters. May this day inspire us, not just to remember 1916 but to live its ideals, not just to celebrate 50 years of Ógra but to keep building for the next 50”, Rachel Regan said.

She called on Tom Stamp, Chairman of Templemore Comhairle Ceantair Fianna Fáil to read the Proclamation of Independence.
Ellen Cass, representing North Tipperary Ógra Fianna Fáil laid a wreath in memory of all those who took part in the 1916 Rising and who gave their lives for Irish Freedom.

Arthur Griffin, Vice President of Fianna Fáil then read 'Ireland Today', the poem written by the late local poet Marian Quinlan Curtin which was commissioned by North Tipperary Ógra Fianna Fáil.

Mr Griffin, in paying tribute to the late Marian Quinlain Curtin spoke of the artist who leaves a work behind, is never really gone.

Rachel Regan then introduced Deputy Ryan O’Meara to the gathering. She stated that Deputy Ryan O’Meara represented the very best of our movement, a proud member of Ógra Fianna Fáil. She said his election to the Dáil is a testament to what dedication and vision can achieve.

As well as one of the youngest members of the Dáil, Ryan embodies the future of our party and our country and we are proud to stand beside him.

Deputy Ryan O’Meara began by saying that it was a privilege to commemorate the legacy of the 1916 Rising, a moment that shook the foundations of an empire and sparked the imagination of a people.

He said it was an “act of bravery, of conviction and of vision - but more than anything, it was a declaration of hope, hope for a free Ireland, united in its diversity and rooted in equality, justice and dignity for all”.

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That vision was not simply political, it was social and moral, he said.
“The Proclamation not only spoke of independence, but of cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and that I believe is the golden thread that ran from 1916 through to the heart of Fianna Fáil since our foundation”, Deputy O'Meara said.

“Born out the Revolutionary period, Fianna Fáil was formed in 1926, by the men and women who had lived the struggle for freedom, but understood that the next chapter must be written through peace, democracy and the will of the people”, he said.
He spoke about the contributions to the building of the nation by a number of Fianna Fáil leaders including Eamon De Valera, Constance Markievicz, Sean Lemass, Donogh O’Malley and Brian Lenihan Junior and that today's generation must carry forward the unity imagined in 1916.

He concluded with a call to honour the Rising, not as a “moment frozen in time but a call to action”.

“Let us prove through our words and deeds that the Republic is not just a memory, it is a living mission and let us carry it forward together”, Deputy O'Meara said.