Thousands of people around the country have attended commemorations of the 86th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. At the Dublin Commemoration, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams called for the establishment of a political coalition to work towards a united Ireland.
In his address to the rally at in Dublin, the Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams said while there had been a focus on British resistance to a united Ireland, the reluctance of the political establishment in the Irish Republic to pursue it should also be examined.
Mr Adams called for an "Alliance for Irish Unity" involving all persons and organisations committed to achieving a United Ireland. He said it was incredible that since the establishment of the state there had not been as much as a Green Paper on the subject.
"Establishment parties have no strategy, no medium and long-term goals, no notion of structures, no economic analysis, no costings, no outline legislative programme", he said
Adams also called for the full cooperation of political parties and the British and Irish Governments in ensuring the Good Friday Agreement was implemented.
He also called for the international community to intervene in the crisis in the Middle East.
He condemned suicide attacks against Israeli citizens and called for an end to them, and urged Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Palestinian territory.
The biggest commemoration was in West Belfast where Gerry Kelly MLA addressed the crowd at Milltown cemetery.
In Drumboe, Co Donegal, the Mid Ulster MLA and MP Martin McGuinness said the republican struggle had now reached its "endphase".
The Sinn Féin Education minister argued: "I earnestly believe that we have begun the countdown to a united Ireland and are continuing to get that message out as widely as possible.
He also told the gathering of several hundred they must allay unionist fears about a united Ireland as they entered the "final lap" towards it.