CYM holds first public Easter Rising commemoration

The Connolly Youth Movement held its first public Easter Rising commemoration on Sunday 23 April. It was the third independent commemoration that the organisation has hosted.

The commemoration, the first open to the public, was attended by representatives of Lasair Dhearg and the Irish Communist Party. Members of the public were also in attendance.

The commemoration was opened with a reading of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, first delivered on the steps of the GPO by Padraig Pearse, 107 years before.

In a statement read to the crowd, the CYM’s General Secretary - flanked by a colour party of CYM members bearing tricoulours, starry ploughs, red flags - stated the reasons for the commemoration.

“We remember those who took up arms to defend the Irish Republic proclaimed at the GPO. We remember those who paid with their lives throughout the Rising, whether that be the volunteers, those who signed the proclamation, as well as the civilian men, women and children.”

https://twitter.com/CYMDublin/status/1650147981742546944

Another significant theme highlighted by the address was the question of Ireland’s neutrality, and the continued encroachment on it by both the EU and NATO.

“Ireland’s false reputation for neutrality has been evidenced by the state’s willingness to cooperate with the United States military by fuelling their warplanes at Shannon Airport, thus making the state wholly complicit in the 20 plus years of atrocities and crimes committed against the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and more recently, Yemen.”

A representative of Lasair Dhearg delivered an address from his organisation. Following this, representatives from Lasair Dhearg laid a wreath at the memorial wall, in honour of Ireland’s patriot dead.

The event was a success, and marks a further strengthening of the CYM in its capacity as an independent organisation, following its disaffiliation from the Communist Party of Ireland in 2021.