Ireland marks centenary of revolt that led to independence

Dubblin : Ireland on Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule that paved the way for independence, with the largest commemorative events in the country's history.

The rebels who seized buildings across Dublin and proclaimed an Irish republic on Easter Monday 1916 will be honoured by a 4.4-kilometre (2.7-mile) parade through the capital for hundreds of thousands of spectators.

An army officer will lead a ceremony with a reading of the 1916 proclamation which declared "the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland" at the General Post Office (GPO), rebel headquarters during the revolt.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins, who will lay a wreath at the GPO, said the country had come a long way in the past 100 years.

But he said Ireland was still working to build a truly inclusive republic, adding: "We can see that in many respects, we have not fully achieved the dreams and ideals for which our forebears gave so much."

The wreath-laying will be followed by a minute's silence to remember the hundreds of people who died during the six-day rebellion, among them the 16 leaders who were executed.

Around 5,000 relatives of the rebels have been invited to the parade, which will be shown on large screens around Dublin.

The uprising began on April 24, 1916, when over 1,000 militants took over prominent buildings in the city centre.

Britain sent reinforcements and began shelling the city, and rebels were forced to abandon their headquarters, eventually surrendering on April 29.

Thousands were arrested over the uprising, but the response caused outrage and a surge in support for Irish independence. 

Within six years, Britain had agreed to the creation of an independent nation, though without the northeastern part of the island, which still remains part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland.

The Rising "gave people the courage to believe we could achieve total independence," Eamon O'Cuiv, deputy leader of political party Fianna Fail and grandson of 1916 rebel Eamon de Valera, told AFP.