A national school in Co Mayo will become the first of 3,300 in the country to receive a copy of the national flag and the Proclamation as part of the State’s programme to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister for Education Jan O'Sullivan and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys will launch the Flags for Schools initiative this morning.
The flag will be presented to pupils Conor McDonagh, who is in junior infants, and Kyla McDonagh, who is in first class, at St Patrick’s National School, in Cornanool, about 6km from Castlebar.
It is envisaged that all national schools will have received their national flag by Proclamation Day on March 15th, 2016.
Mr Kenny said the purpose of the Flags for Schools initiative is to "remember the great sacrifice of the people who fought in 1916 and after, so that this flag could be flown by its people, and that this nation could take its place among the world's free nations."
Ms Humphreys said the project would help children “gain a greater understanding of the work of the Defence Forces and the importance of our national flag, which symbolises the aspiration for peace between the different traditions on this island”.
