€3m Funding Announced For Easter Rising Centenary Events

A €3 million funding package has been announced to support events being planned to mark the Centenary of the Easter Rising.

Over 2,000 events and initiatives have already been confirmed for next year as part of the Local Authority led County Plans for Ireland 2016. The programmes contain events and initiatives ranging across all seven strands of the national programme, with a strong emphasis on arts and cultural events. This funding package will enable local communities to deliver on their ambitious programmes for next year. It will also help to ensure the maximum level of participation and engagement, across all sectors of the community, in this once-in-a-century moment in Ireland’s history.

Announcing the funding Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: "As we approach 2016 and the start of our State programme to mark the events of 1916, the significance and importance of this moment for us, as a nation, is becoming very clear.

"The scale and diversity of engagement and participation by the citizens of Ireland in marking this moment in our history, in every community across the country, is an indication of how important this is to us.

"I am particularly pleased to be here today to acknowledge and thank IPB Insurance for their investment in and support of the local communities and citizens who have come together to create something very special in our towns and cities next year."

(MH/CD)