Dublin Castle commemoration a timely reminder of unfinished Republic

16 January 2022

Labour Party leader, Alan Kelly TD has today said the State commemoration to mark the centenary of the handover of Dublin Castle is a timely reminder of how Ireland remains an unfinished Republic.

Deputy Kelly, who will represent the Labour Party at the State commemoration, said:

“The Labour Party believes in Ireland and there is no doubt that we, as a people and as a community, have made significant progress over the last 100 years. However, our Republic remains very much unfinished and unequal. The egalitarian promises of the Proclamation and the Democratic Programme to deliver proper social, economic and cultural equality remain unfulfilled.

“The reality is that bitter political rivalries and an unwillingness to compromise ensured that within months of this largely symbolic handover of power in Dublin Castle that the opportunity to build a true Republic was squandered and our fledgling State deeply embroiled in a bloody civil war that left our society divided for decades.

“The struggle launched by our movement in 1912 under the influence of our party’s founder and executed 1916 Rising leader James Connolly – to put democracy and equality at the heart of our society by asserting the rights of labour – also suffered greatly in the aftermath of the Civil War and continues to this day. This is something that we must focus on and work to change once and for all in 2022.”

He added:

“We all have a responsibility to learn from these crucial lessons in our history, to remember the sacrifices of so many Labour women and men and to work together to build an alternative that will challenge the value system dominant in Ireland since 1922. A value system that always seems more comfortable prioritising private interests over the common good in health, in housing and at work.”

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