President Michael D Higgins led the 1916 Centenary Commemorations in Westport, Co. Mayo. The event included the unveiling of a plaque at the John MacBride 1916 Memorial, in honour of 31 local Irish Volunteers arrested in Westport after the Easter Rising of 1916, and the naming of the Doris Brothers Bridge, after William and PJ Doris who campaigned for tenants’ rights and Irish freedom.
The plaque that we are unveiling this afternoon will stand as an important and enduring reminder of the struggle and sacrifices made by the people of Westport so that we, today, could live in a free and independent Ireland and one that they will be proud of in the generations to come.
