A COMMITTEE has been launched to coordinate commemorations for the 1916 Easter Rising centenary among the Irish community in Liverpool.
The Liverpool Easter 1916 Commemoration Committee was formed at St Michael’s Irish Centre this month, led by chairman and former Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Dr Kevin McNamara.
Mr McNamara, who served as a British MP for nearly 40 years, is a long-term champion for the Irish in Britain and was among the few voices willing to speak on their behalf at parliamentary level during the height of the Troubles.
While launching the new committee on October 7, he told those gathered of Liverpool’s “significant” contribution to the formation of the “modern state of Ireland”.
Regarding the anniversary celebrations due to take place in 2016, he added: “Our commemoration will be a community commemoration to educate the young and to help us all understand the historical forces at play during this key period in Irish and British History.”
The launch ceremony was attended by John Lyon of the Irish Embassy in London, Dr Kevin Bean, of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool, and a range of community leaders from across the city.
“During the decade of commemoration 1912-1923 the events that define modern Irish history take place, from the signing of the Ulster League and Covenant, through 1916, Partition, and Civil War,” Dr Bean told those gathered.
“It is important that we understand the motives of those from Liverpool who took part in Easter 1916,” he added, “and important that we engage with historical truth, from which we will see a flowering of historical understanding - particularly in this city, which has kept these stories submerged.”
The committee closed the ceremony by calling on Liverpool’s Irish community to come forward with pictures, names and stories of those who took part in Easter 1916, so they can effectively record their contribution.
The group plans to create a publication documenting the involvement of the men and women of Liverpool involved in the rebellion.
They also hope to erect a monument in their honour in the city.
For further information visit www.liverpooleaster1916.wordpress.com
