Flags for Dublin 8 Schools for 1916
As part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, 20 Primary Schools in the Dublin 8 area will be presented with the National Flag and a copy of the Proclamation in the coming months. Yesterday, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny was in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, for the launch of the ‘Flags for Schools’ initiative. He was joined by Arts Minister Heather Humphreys and Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan at St. Patrick’s National School for the first of thousands of ceremonies to be held.
Speaking at the presentation An Taoiseach Kenny presented the flag and proclamation saying: “We are here today for the very first of over three thousand events like this, as Óglaigh na hÉireann, our Defence Forces begin to present the Irish tricolour and the 1916 Proclamation to every Primary and Special School in the land. In being here, we are helping to remember the great sacrifice of the people who fought in 1916 and after, so that this flag could be flown by its people, and that this nation could take its place among the world’s free nations.”
The 20 Primary and Special Needs Schools will each receive a flag and their own copy of the Proclamation during the following months, in the lead up to the next year’s celebrations. It is hoped that all schools will have received their flags before the 15th March 2016. There are more than 3,300 National and Special Needs Schools in the country part-taking in the ‘Flags for Schools’ initiative.
Proclamation Day will take place on the 15th March next year and schools and institutes in Ireland will be open to the community to show off their projects they have been working on. All these projects will take on the theme of the 1916 Rising and schools that have not yet started on their projects have been asked by the Minister of Education to get their projects off the ground.
“Next year’s programme of activity to engage with the events and themes around 1916 is exciting and innovative. The response so far has been very positive and we are asking all schools to get involved – particularly in time for Proclamation Day on the 15th March next year where we will ask all schools and further and higher institutes to open their doors to the community and present the various projects which our young people have developed in relation to 1916,” Minister Jan O’Sullivan said.
We here at the Fountain Resource Group are running a series of articles to embrace next year’s celebration of the 1916 Revolt. If you – Dublin 8 Primary School Scholars – would like to send us some of your pictures of art work or poetry that relate to the 1916 theme, we will put it up on our website as part of a ‘Fountain Youth – 1916 Collage’. Pictures and poetry can be scanned and emailed to us at: info@frg.ie. Or sent in the post to St James’ Presbytery, James Street, Dublin 8 addressed to Eoghan Brunkard.
The format for the special flag delivery events happening in every Primary School until March is as follows:
Arrival of the Defence Forces Flag team
School photograph (if desired)
Reading of the Proclamation by the Defence Forces team (A pupil of the school can be nominated to read the fourth paragraph of the Proclamation if desired)
Short talk on the history of the National Flag and care and custody of the Flag
presentation of the National Flag to the School
