N16 may be renamed the n1916 for commemorations

Cavan County Council have unveiled exciting plans for their 2016 Centenary programme of events to mark 100-years after The Rising.
The programme is anchored by a family friendly event titled 'Reimagining Cavan as it was in 1916’ to take place in County Town on Saturday, April 23.
Tom Sullivan, County Librarian, appointed to coordinate the local programme, outlined to elected members last Monday the events already pencilled in so far. They were decided at community workshop in June, held for people interested in participating in the development of Centenary programme which drew up to 100 people, including Minister Heather Humphreys, and members of the Council’s own 1916 committee.
Mr Sullivan told the monthly meeting of elected members that the key idea has been submitted and has been “well-received” by offices in Dublin.
Taking into account seven separate strands, the events will acknowledge the lead up to the seminal event, and how it contributed to the formation of the State.
Focusing on the county’s links to the Rising, including Bailieborough pacifist Francis Sheehy Skeffington who was murdered on Easter week, IRB man Peter Paul Galligan who carried James Connolly’s battle orders to volunteers in Enniscorthy, and Cumann na mBan member Agnes O’Farrelly from Mullagh; each will be remembered individually throughout the year-long commemoration.
Sean MacDiarmada from Kiltyclogher, who was one of the signatories of the proclamation, will also be remembered for the time he spent learning the Irish language at Tullymoyle National School in Dowra.
“History is not included as a integral part of school curriculum any longer, which is a great pity,” Tom Sullivan told the meeting. “If history isn’t taught in schools how then will it be remembered?”
Mr Sullivan outlined where communities and youth, both at home and abroad, would provide further impetus to the Centenary plans. As part of the global outreach, the Council will host a major cross-border conference under the theme of Emigration and Exile, while a book cataloguing local information on the Rising will also be complied and released next year.
The launch of the national 2016 Centenary programme’s will take place in Dublin on Thursday, October 8; and the official local launch will be held in November.
The elected members responded positively to the plans, including from Cathaoirleach Paddy Smyth who expressed his delight at the part the County Museum in Ballyjamesduff would play in the commemorations.
While Sinn Féin’s Eugene Greenan received support in his call for more central funding to carry out the commemorative plans, one of the more unusual suggestions from the chamber came from Fianna Fáil’s John Paul Feeley (FF) who asked that the Council consider linking up with a Leitrim mooted initiative.
“They’ve indicated to their intention to have the N16 which runs through parts of Leitrim, West Cavan and Sligo renamed as the N1916 for the year. I don’t know how the NRA will see it, but it’s something we might give our support to,” he said.