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21st January 2018
11:08am GMT
“The 1918 general election and meeting of the first Dáil on 21 January 1919 transformed this island and changed the course of our history", Swanick says. "It was an exciting and progressive period in Ireland, seeing the implementation of a new democratic programme as well as the extension of the vote to women aged 30 and over. The Representation of the People Act 1918 caused the electorate to almost triple. It also saw our first female representative Countess Markievicz elected."The only bad news is he doesn't intend this to be a holiday.
"The Declaration of Independence Day Bill seeks to formally recognise 21st January and allow for it to be commemorated by schools, public bodies and community groups. I am not proposing a public holiday but I believe the importance of this occasion needs to be marked. "The Bill received widespread support in the Seanad and has now passed Second Stage. Next year is the 100th anniversary of the first Dáil meeting and it would be extremely fitting if the legislation was in place before then."It might be hard to accept the idea of an Independence Day without a public holiday right now. Still, maybe it's not the worst thing ever. We all know how well that worked out for the States...
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