Ireland on Sunday commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, with a splendid parade in the heart of Dublin city.

The parade, starting with a reading of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, saw over 3,700 members of the Defense Forces, police and the emergency services march along a 4.5 km route through the city center. Thousands of people lined the streets for the largest public spectacle in the history of the country.

At a state ceremony held outside the General Post Office (GPO),  the headquarters of the Irish men and women who took part in the Easter Rising, the Irish flag was lowered to half mast and Irish President Michael D Higgins laid a wreath with relatives of those who fought in the rebellion in attendance. After a minute's silence was observed, the flag was raised to full mast and the national anthem was played while the Air Corps conducted a fly past over the streets of Dublin.

"In this centenary year we honor the memory of those who died in 1916. We cherish 100 years later the principles and the ideals contained in our Proclamation," Irish caretaker Prime Minister Enda Kenny told the gathered crowds.

Dignitaries at the event included former presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson, former prime ministers Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, as well as Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 singers joined the National Symphony Orchestra for a live broadcast of an open-air concert at Dublin's Collins Barracks.

Earlier, President Higgins laid a wreath in Kilmainham Gaol, where 14 rebels were executed in the days after the 1916 Easter Rising.

The 1916 Rising was an armed rebellion against the British rule in Ireland that began on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, and last for six days. Almost 500 people were killed and over 2,600 were wounded in the Easter Rising. Most of the civilians were killed as a result of the British using artillery and heavy machine guns, or mistaking civilians for rebels. The shelling and the fires it caused left parts of inner city Dublin in ruins.  

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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