Former Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan has criticised the Government for failing to give sufficient prominence to Catholic Emancipation in its newly announced programme to commemorate Daniel O’Connell.
Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan last week launched the Daniel O’Connell Commemorative Programme to mark the 250th anniversary of O’Connell’s birth.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Mr Flanagan described the omission in the Government’s extensive press release as “inexplicable”.
“Catholic Emancipation was O’Connell’s greatest contribution in a long and distinguished career. He was probably the greatest ever Irish parliamentarian; to announce a State commemoration programme that does not acknowledge his greatest feat is inexplicable,” he said.
O’Connell, known as ‘The Liberator’, played a central role in the passing of the Catholic Relief Act in 1829, which allowed Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament and repealed significant parts of the penal laws. Mr Flanagan said one of O’Connell’s successes lay in his ability to bring people together across political divides to secure greater representation for Ireland’s Catholic majority.
“I hope the department would rethink and acknowledge all aspects of his long and distinguished career,” Mr Flanagan added.
The wide-ranging commemorative programme includes State ceremonies, community events, lectures, an RTÉ documentary, commemorative coins and stamps, and international events through Ireland’s embassy network. However, the press release outlining the initiative does not specifically reference Catholic Emancipation, the milestone most associated with O’Connell.
The current Programme for Government did not include the 2029 bicentenary of Catholic Emancipation in its list of events that might be marked during its term. In January, historians told The Irish Catholic that they hope a full State commemoration will take place in 2029 to mark what they describe as a landmark moment in Irish civil rights, although this seems unlikely at present.
In last week’s press release Mr O’Donovan focused on O’Connell’s overall work for “civil rights”.
The minister said: “Daniel O’Connell was one of the most important figures in Irish political history, not just for what he achieved, but for how he achieved it. He believed in peaceful reform, in democracy, and in civil rights; ideas and concepts to which we should still aspire today.”
Events planned include a State-led ceremony at Derrynane House, O’Connell’s former home, on August 6, the Daniel O’Connell Summer School in Kerry, a symposium at Trinity College Dublin, and local authority projects. The Bar of Ireland and the Irish Georgian Society are also involved, while the Central Bank plans to issue coins and An Post will release stamps honouring O’Connell.
