PRIMARY schools across the Republic are to receive a copy of the 1916 Proclamation and a tricolour flag as part of the Easter Rising centenary commemorations.
The Irish government’s Flags for Schools initiative is an attempt to encourage children to become engaged in next year’s historic commemorations.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny was present yesterday when St Patrick’s National School in Islandeady, Co Mayo, where he began his education, became the first of over 3,300 schools to receive the flag and Proclamation.
Presentation ceremonies across the state will see members of the Defence Forces raise the flag and read the Proclamation to the assembled pupils and school staff over the coming months.
Mr Kenny said the school events would help people “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”.
Heritage minister Heather Humphreys said the initiative would also give children a “greater understanding of the work of the Defence Forces and the importance of our national flag”.
Education minister Jan O’Sullivan said schools were also being asked to mark Proclamation Day on March 15 2016 by presenting projects to their local community.
