2016 Commemoration - how was it for you?

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Betsy Og

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So much going on everywhere its hard to keep track. I'm looking forward to buying the Christmas DVD of the highlights. Much of it was all fine and well, a bit of a re-run of St Patrick's Day parade in parts I thought.

As usual there are all sorts of side arguments of "What would they make of the country now?", and every shade of opinion wanting the grab the endorsement of the long dead - tbh I'm not too bothered what they would think. They were people of their time, we are of ours. I think we should only consider events in their context of 100 years ago - we shouldn't be dictated to by the past.

I spent Sunday night watching the Queen of Ireland and the programme following it I am Traveller - both highly relevant to the Ireland of today and fittingly scheduled in my opinion. But oh dear, but what would the men of '16 have thought of it....
 
I thought the coverage by RTE was excellent - they really went all in. In contrast we flicked over to TV3 Sunday night where we were entertained by a re-run of Brendan Grace making racial slurs against the Japanese - classy stuff.

There's part of me relieved that it all passed without any trouble. A bigger part of me is relieved it is all over....the run up to this was akin to the maturity of the SSIAs!
 
I was at the Cork commemorations yesterday for family reasons and found them very dignified. What was remarkable to me over the weekend was that it didn't seem to degenerate into a normal Irish celebration involving massive amounts of drink. I loved the way the schools got involved and I learnt far more from what my own kids were doing they did then I ever did in school back in the 70s and 80s. I also loved the fact that to me, the flag was "recovered" from the Shinners.

I was back in time for the concert on RTE last night, I thought it was excellent but will never look at Kermit the Frog in the same light again. And if you didn't see it, just google "it's not easy being green" and Imelda May and see what comes up.

Full marks to RTE and overall, their coverage was something that a commercial station would or could never do and perhaps people should remember that when it comes to giving out about the licence fee.
 
Excellent job done by all involved. Michael D was very good. RTE's coverage was superb.
 
thedaddyman said:
I loved the way the schools got involved
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Exactly - I thought that this was a huge positive - local school (primary) kids have been talking about it, looking for more information about it all - which shows that it has captured their imagination. It was fantastic to see the kids doing projects / talks / etc about this at the local schools.
 
Was just going to say, there's a few better days ahead .....and then a few awful tragic ones. As Brad Pitt might say in a dodgy Belfast accent - "this is an Irish story, not an American one". Saw the last 20 minutes of the concert last night, thought it was very good, reminded me a bit of the concert they had in the Albert Hall a couple of years back when everyone was over to meet Banrion Eilis Uimhir a Do.
 
thedaddyman said:
I also loved the fact that to me, the flag was "recovered" from the Shinners.
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We were in the West of Ireland for Easter and it was lovely driving back yesterday afternoon and seeing lots of Tricolours out in people's gardens. Great to have it back and hopefully it will become acceptable now to display this publicly.
 
Duke of Marmalade said:
Yes indeed, it is frightening to think that we might be still in chains like the people of Scotland or Wales or indeed those we deserted in the north of our country.:mad:
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Careful now, next you'll be with Kevin Myers telling us we should have had more patience with those jolly decent chaps.
 
I enjoy reading the contemporary newspapers. Can anybody explain why the Indo and Sindo of those days refer to O'Connell street whilst the Irish Times refers to Sackville street. It was not renamed until 1923. Was it known colloquially as O'Connell street long before the official name change?
 
I attended the A Nation's Voice concert in Collins Barracks on Easter Sunday. Great performance by the choirs (1000 people) and the RTE Symphony Orchestra. Also a Fabulous narration of One Hundred Years a Nation by the poet himself, Paul Muldoon. A truly epic event. This is available on RTE Player.

I also loved the start of the military parade beforehand. (I had to leave early to go to the concert). I watched the Commemorative service on a screen in Dame Street beside Dublin Castle. Great atmosphere. The Crowds on the street joined in the singing of O Danny Boy and the National Anthem with gusto. Brilliant!

A truly Memorable day.

I also loved the Centenary concert on RTE last night.

Looking forward to 24 April for the Laochra performance at Croke Park- €25 adult fee.

3,500 performers to take part.

Marion
 
Purple said:
Great to see we can all sing along with a song written by an English man!
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Ah no, I had decided that all english people were terrible so and sos, now you throw this into the mix, my worldview is shattered !!

I wonder do the english feel they get all the bad rep?, ok we hear of the Sherwood Foresters (very fresh recruits by the sounds of it), but presumably there were Scots and Welsh soldiers, probably even Irish soldiers with the British Army in Ireland (since there were thousands on the Somme). Wasnt Lloyd George a Welshman. Celtic solidarity huh?
 
I watched Centenary on Monday night and again last night. I thought it was excellent from beginning to end.
 
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