2016: A New Proclamation for a New Generation

An innovative re-appraisal of the 1916 Proclamation for twenty-first century Ireland

One of the most powerful legacies of the Easter Rising of 1916 is the Proclamation of Independence. Its words - 'The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally ...' have resonated down through the years. But how relevant is a document drafted at the start of the twentieth century to Ireland in the twenty-first century? Ireland in 2016 will be a very different country to Ireland in 1916, but not everything will have changed. 2016: A New Proclamation explores the relevance of the original proclamation to Ireland today and invites the reader to determine what they would want to proclaim for Ireland and the Irish in the years ahead. It asks the question: if we had to write it, what would the 2016 Proclamation say?

Gerard O'Neill is an economist and has written extensively on social, economic and technological trends and thier marketing impllications. Gerard has worked with a wide cross-section of Irish organisations in banking, media, retail and other sectors to develop insights into future trends. He is Chairman of Amarach Research, Ireland's leading independent market research agency.