Dublin revives Easter Rising parade
Dublin revives Easter Rising parade
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Sunday, 16, Apr 2006 02:55
Tens of thousands of people have lined the streets in Dublin, where a military parade to mark the Easter Rising has taken place for the first time in 37 years.
Ireland's defence forces marched through the streets to commemorate the bloody revolution against British rule, which many claim led to Ireland's political independence.
A minute's silence was held and wreaths were laid to remember those that were killed in the uprising in 1916.
Irish premier Bertie Ahern, who attended the parade with president Mary McAleese, said: "The men and women of Easter 1916 gave their lives so that Ireland could gain her freedom."
Mr Ahern laid a special wreath at Kilmainham Jail, where the Rising's leaders were executed, to commemorate the men's "patriotism".
The Easter Rising parade has not been held since the early 1970s because it was felt that military displays were inappropriate when Irish nationalists were waging an armed campaign in Northern Ireland.
But recent progress in Northern Ireland, including the 1998 peace deal and the 2005 pledge by IRA fighters to stop using weapons, has allowed the event to be revived.
In 1916's Easter Rising, Irish rebels attempted to seize Dublin from British forces but many of the instigators were captured and killed.