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Thousands of students across the country participate in first ever Proclamation Day
Arts Minister Heather Humphreys speaking at the launch of the 1916 commemoration programme
Schools, universities and education institutes across Ireland will today mark the significance of the Proclamation of Independence in the first ever Proclamation Day. One of the major highlights of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, Proclamation Day will see normal school schedules replaced with special ceremonies to celebrate and mark the significance of this important and revolutionary document.
Following the raising of the Irish flag, the Proclamation will be read by a student, past pupil or special guest of each school or institution. This will be followed by a sharing of each school’s Proclamation for a New Generation, which set out the vision and ideals of the Generation of 2016. Students will then present a selection of music, theatre and poetry, either specially commissioned, or from the period of 1916, to which family and friends have been invited to attend.
Arts Minister Heather Humphreys will attend a series of Proclamation Day events at schools in Monaghan to mark the occasion.
Speaking in advance of the events, Minister Humphreys said:
“Proclamation Day is a once in a generation occasion, when schools and universities will collectively recognise the significance of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in this centenary year.
“The education programme has arguably been the most wide reaching and successful element of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme to date. It has allowed our children and young people to learn about their history in a new and interesting way and it has encouraged them to think ambitiously about the kind of Ireland they want to build in the years ahead."