Media Library

“Remembering Michael Collins In 2016” - Oration At Béal na Blá Commemoration

President Michael D. Higgins became the first serving President of Ireland to deliver the oration at the annual Béal na Blá Commemoration.

The event takes place each year on the Sunday closest to August 22nd, the day in 1922 when General Michael Collins, commander-in-chief of the Irish army, was killed in an ambush during the Civil War. 

President Higgins' oration took place in the year that Ireland marks the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, when Collins was aide de camp to Joseph Plunkett in the GPO.

Speech at Official Opening Of Fleadh Cheoil Na HÉireann 2016

Speech at official opening of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2016

Ennis, Co. Clare, 14 August 2016

Speech at State ceremonial event on Patrick Pearse’s contribution to the Irish language

Full text: http://www.president.ie/en/diary/details/president-attends-state-ceremonial-event-as-part-of-the-ireland-2016-centen

On 7 July 2016 President Michael D. Higgins gave the keynote address at a ceremony in honour of Patrick Pearse’s contribution to the Irish language.

The ceremony formed part of 'An Teanga Bheo' strand of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. The revival of the Irish language was a core ambition of many of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, based on a vision of an independent Ireland with its own spoken and written language.