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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
4 6 April 2016
1916
T
he recent multitude of events commemorat-
ing the centenary of the 1916 rising has
provided ample opportunity to reconsider and
admire the original wording of the 1916 Proc-
lamation of the Irish Republic.
āThe Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty,
equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens,
and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and
prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cher-
ishing all the children of the nation equallyā¦ā.
Despite the power of such rhetoric, this vision for the
Irish Republic has never been achieved. Opportunities
to implement it have been squandered and political
promises of radical reform have not been delivered. The
muddled and uninspiring outcome of the 2016 general
election lends supports to the view that our politics and
our political choices
are driven by short-
term considerations
and that we lack an
overarching vision of
the type of society we
should be working to
create.
The abhorrent living
conditions of the tene-
ments of 1916
underpinned a serious
housing crisis at that
time. While thankfully, 100 years on, such living condi-
tions are no longer accepted, escalating rents and the
level of homelessness today means we have a housing
crisis in 2016. We remain a relatively unequal society in
which many groups face discrimination and exclusion.
Our economy, betrayed in recent times by an unsavoury
coalition of politicians, bankers, developers and regu-
lators, serves neither our society nor our
environment.
The vision of the 1916 Proclamation remains valid. It
inspired Claiming Our Future to examine how civil soci-
ety could respond to the celebration of the 1916
anniversary. Rather than focusing on failings in the
implementation of the Proclamationās vision, Claiming
Our Future developed a new blueprint for a vision. Our
Declaration for a Future Ireland sought to look forward
rather than backward.
We posted an invitation to participate on a dedicated
website and met organisations around the country. This
allowed for drafting and submitting of personal ver-
sions of the Declaration. We offered to facilitate groups
and individuals adumbrating their hopes for the future
as āFuture Newsā in a two-minute newsshow format.
The groups that took part ranged from Young Friends
of the Earth to the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland and
the Longford Womenās Group.
The ļ¬nal Declaration for a Future Ireland embraces a
fundamental transformation of our current society to
become a ļ¬ourishing Ireland based on the core progres-
sive values of equality, environmental sustainability,
participation, accountability and solidarity. It pro-
poses 21 wide ranging Guarantees. These have been
grouped to resonate with the key demands that
emerged from the pro-
cess: Equality, Rights
and Justice; A Participa-
tory, Accountable and
Inclusive Democracy;
An Environmentally
Sustainable and Vibrant
Economy; and A High
Quality of Life based on
Solidarity.
Like the Proclama-
tion, the Declaration for
a Future Ireland aspires
to be a visionary document. On closer inspection, the
guarantees it pledges are not that radical. Each one is
underpinned by a value that will echo with most peo-
pleās own fundamental beliefs. It is this values-based
society that we ask people to critically reļ¬ect upon and
declare for themselves.
Claiming Our Future is now embarking on a process
to engage with civil society organisations on how best
to implement this Declaration. How could this values-
based framework be used in their own advocacy work
in seeking social change? We want to engage with any
new Government on taking up the ideas in the Declara-
tion. What values underpin their future policy proposals
and how could they espouse the guarantees made?
Claiming Our Future asks that you join with us to now,
raise our heads, reclaim our voices, our rights and our
dignity and pledge support to this, our Future Ireland.
Now
not Then
What a 2016 Proclamation would look like
by Mary Kinane