Ceremonies
One of the main recommendations made by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee was that the National Day of Commemoration should be organised in a way which would reflect its national importance, which would encourage people of different traditions to participate and which would attract the interest and support of the public. The current service and ceremonies closely follow these recommendations.
The military and religious ceremonies are held in the presence of the President, the Taoiseach and other members of the Government of Ireland, members of the Oireachtas, the Council of State, the Diplomatic Corps, the Judiciary, relatives of 1916 leaders, next-of-kin of those who died on service with the UN, Northern Ireland representatives and a wide cross-section of the community, including ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen.
Representatives of the three divisions of the Defence Forces parade and render military honours. Since its inception, music has been provided by the combined bands of the several Army Commands and Dr. Bernadette Greevy.
The ceremonies begin with an interfaith service, comprising prayers, hymns and readings by senior representatives of the main Christian denominations and of the Jewish and (since 1994) Islamic faiths.
The military ceremonies include an honour guard of the Cadet School, the laying of a wreath by the President on behalf of the people of Ireland, Reveille, the raising of the national flag and the playing of the National Anthem.
The National Day of Commemoration is, along with Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, and Saint Patrick's Day, one of the days on which the Department of the Taoiseach's protocol section has advised all government buildings to fly the national flag.
The main 2012 ceremony have been moved from the Royal Hospital Kilmainham to the Collins Barracks campus of the National Museum of Ireland, as the Kilmainham site is closed for renovation. Regional ceremonies are planned for Sligo City Hall; Kilkenny Castle; NUI Galway; Fitzgerald’s Park, Cork; Limerick City Hall; and Bishops Palace Museum, Waterford.
Read more about this topic: National Day Of Commemoration
Famous quotes containing the word ceremonies:
“All ceremonies are in themselves very silly things; but yet, a man of the world should know them. They are the outworks of Manners and Decency, which would be too often broken in upon, if it were not for that defence, which keeps the enemy at a proper distance.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Despite compelling evidence that she will be working at 35, by choice or necessity, today’s 21-year-old woman has difficulty looking beyond the ceremonies of her marriage and her babies’ christenings.”
—Marilyn Bender (b. 1925)
“In ceremonies of the horsemen,
Even the pawn must hold a grudge.”
—Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)