WHILE SINN Féin welcomes the State's commemoration of the 1916 Rising, the Government is merely paying "lip service" to the Proclamation, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams told supporters in Dublin yesterday.
Speaking outside the GPO at the party's own commemoration of the Rising - which took place hours after the official State ceremony was held at the same location - Mr Adams noted that his party colleague and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness had represented Sinn Féin at the earlier ceremony.
But the State's remembrance service was a recent development and the Government's commitment was "purely rhetorical" whereas the men and women behind the Rising went beyond this, Mr Adams said.
Calling for a national conversation on the type of Ireland we desire, he asked those present to imagine "how much progress could be made" if the Government moved beyond simple commemoration.
"We are living in a time of great hope and opportunity for republican ideals and objectives.
Irish reunification is no longer an aspiration, it is a work in progress," he said.
"And that work must intensify now and in the time ahead. That means we have to repopularise the ideals of 1916, particularly among young people."
With this in mind, he called on all parties who espouse the cause of Irish reunification to set aside their political differences, and to find "common cause". This would include winning unionist support.
Mr Adams made his address to several hundred republican supporters at approximately 3pm yesterday. They had gathered outside the GPO after marching from Parnell Square towards O'Connell street and College Green, before returning to the GPO.
Many of those who participated in yesterday's march bore banners and placards commemorating the signatories to the Proclamation and other republican figures.
Among the other groups represented were the Shell to Sea campaign and the Tara valley protesters.
Speaking to The Irish Timesafter attending the State's commemoration ceremony alongside Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and President Mary McAleese, Martin McGuinness said he found it to be a "very dignified commemoration".
"It was obviously very well attended. It is very clear that the people of Ireland remember those involved in the 1916 Rising," he said.
Mr McGuinness is the most senior member of Sinn Féin to have attended the State's commemoration. However, he said he "wouldn't read any significance" into his attendance at yesterday's commemoration.
The party encouraged its members to attend the ceremony, and other local commemorations around the country.
He added that he had seen "quite a few" people wearing the white Easter lily.
Sinn Féin encourages its supporters to wear this in honour of Ireland's "patriot dead".