While the Irish state has deliberately avoided any mention of the word ‘Catholic’ in it’s official communiques about Daniel O’Connell and has no plans in its Programme for Government to commemorate the anniversary of Catholic Emancipation in 2029 – probably the greatest success of O’Connell which won him the title ‘The Liberator’- the Taoiseach did explicitly mention it in his speech in Kerry recently to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of O’Connell.
“Throughout the country, he took up the cause of those facing arbitrary courts. He refused to be intimidated by the power of the crown. He gave hope to those long-used to being denied justice. And so it was natural that he would take up the cause of Catholic Emancipation with all of the fire and determination he brought to his legal work.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin went on to say: “As he grew older O’Connell became much more personally and deeply committed to his faith. But it would be a mistake to see him as simply campaigning for his own religion. He believed that members of all religions and in all countries should have the right to fully participate in the professional and political life of the state. He was not looking for supremacy, but for equality and respect – and in order to achieve it he built an organisation the like of which the world had never before seen.”
O’Connell, he said, “tirelessly toured the country, uniting people in a shared demand for Emancipation. Through the Catholic Association he showed the government in London that the mass of the Irish people supported his cause – and he demonstrated in a dramatic way the political power that Catholics could exercise in elections.”
The Taoiseach concluded: “Before O’Connell the approach had been for a handful of prominent Catholics to prepare a polite address to the King asking for relief. O’Connell transformed this, showed the mass, popular demand of the Irish people for Emancipation. After a steadily growing campaign, it was a demand which could no longer be resisted. The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 was no small achievement. It resonated throughout the world and Daniel O’Connell was hailed as a hero by all who believed in liberty.”
Hopefully the Taoiseach will see the folly in not giving due respect to Catholic Emancipation in 2029 and add it to the government’s list of commemorations.
