Easter Rising to be marked at Stormont
The NI Assembly Commission has announced plans to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising.
The 1916 event saw rebels take over a number of buildings in Dublin as part of a nationalist uprising. British troops put down the rebellion and many of its ringleaders were captured and executed. The Easter Rising is one of many dates to be marked over what has been called "a decade of centenaries". Among the other anniversaries are the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, the signing of the Ulster Covenant, the Dublin Lock-out and the rise of the labour movement, the women's suffrage movement and the outbreak of World War I. Assembly speaker William Hay, who is chair of the assembly commission, has announced an agreed approach to those anniversaries to be marked within Parliament Buildings. Mr Hay said that the idea of not marking any of the anniversaries officially had been on the table. 'Fitting and respectful' "In representing society as a whole, it was right to consider if historic anniversaries should pass unmarked at the assembly when a range of events are being held to acknowledge them elsewhere," he said. "The commission has agreed that the range of official assembly events will mark the more significant anniversaries and developments from a century ago, but that the assembly's existing policy that allows MLAs to sponsor other events and functions on a cross community basis will still apply." The commission also noted that Mr Hay would continue to hold official events involving the wider community in his role as speaker including this year's Diamond Jubilee and the UK City of Culture 2013. Mr Hay said the recent commemorations of the sinking of the Titanic "provided a fitting and respectful start" to how such events should be handled over the next decade". The planning of an Easter Rising commemoration is dependent on the current assembly mandate being extended until 2016, otherwise it would fall within the remit of the next assembly, along with a similar event to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.