A drive to ensure that the centenary of the adoption of Amhrán na bhFiann as our national anthem is given the recognition and importance it deserves is gaining momentum, with confirmation that a formal commemorative event will be held in Cork later this year to mark its significance.
Aontú Cllr Peter O’Donoghue who is spearheading a campaign to ensure that 100 years of our National Anthem is suitably marked says he is delighted that his suggestion that a special Centenary event be held has gained widespread support at today’s (14th September) meeting of Cork County Council.
Repeating his calls that the National Anthem should be taught in schools as a compulsory element of the school curriculum, Cllr O’ Donoghue said
“I first raised this issue some months ago seeking that this Council formally writes to the Dept of Education seeking that the national anthem be taught in schools.
It has not responded and I find this totally unacceptable and bewildering and leads me to question why the Dept is dragging its heels on such a fundamental part of our culture and our history.
Our national anthem is unique to us and should be given all the respect it deserves.
Today I asked that the Council writes again to the Department, and this was agreed.
In addition, I asked that the Council write to the Education Training Board Ireland and request that it implements a policy which will see its schools teach our national anthem.
We have a duty to do all in our power to ensure it is taught in primary and secondary schools.
It is a fabulous anthem and gained major traction as a marching song during the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence, not least here in cork where the mountains reverberated with the sound of it as brave men and women sung it passionately.
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolising a country’s history, culture, and values. It fosters unity, instils national pride, and serves as an official sonic representation of a state.
National Anthems are sung with pride in countries throughout the world.
Living in Alberta. Canada and working with a construction company which was contracted to do maintenance work for public buildings in the province, I often worked on jobs in schools which were open and operating as schools as maintenance works were carried out. When working in these schools the first thing that would happen every Monday morning was that the National Anthem of Canada was sung by all the pupils. It was a very powerful experience.
I spoke to cousins of mine in New Zealand, and they told me that they sang the New Zealand National Anthem every Friday in school.
Many other counties across the world make it mandatory for students to sing their countries National Anthem every week including The United States, Mexico and India to name a few.
As a result of students having to sing their national anthem every week, the people in all these countries, from young students to the elderly know their national anthem off by heart and as a result sing it with pride and gusto.
Unfortunately we cannot say the same here in Ireland. Many Irish people don’t actually know their own national anthem and therefore don’t understand the significance or meaning of it and unfortunately can’t sing it.
The Irish state is actually failing by not ensuring that every Irish citizen is taught Ireland’s national anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann in Irish classrooms. This has to change!
In the future, all children who attend primary and secondary school in Ireland should be taught our national anthem, Amhrán Na bhFiann. The best way to do this in my opinion is for every student to sing it at least once a week in school and the best year to make this a compulsory part of our schools weekly education programme is this year, 2026, the 100 year anniversary of our official adaptation of Amhran na BhFiann as our national anthem.
