I propose the setting up of a national Tricolour festival that will extend St. Patrick’s Feast Day to encompass a season of Irish events spanning 17 days.
The annual festival will begin on the 1st of March with a ‘Ceremony of the Flag’ on The Mall in Waterford City, at the location and on the anniversary of the Tricolour’s first flight in 1848, and will conclude in climactic fashion in Dublin on the 17th of March, to celebrate and commemorate its adoption by the Irish Republic in 1919.
During the 17 days the flag will be relayed through the towns and cities of Ireland (much like the Olympic torch) so that each location along the route can be showcased and highlighted by the media, celebrating some notable Irish achievements in that area.
The festival should be set up as a nationwide trail for visitors that want to achieve the total ‘Irish’ experience.
I think that a celebration of the Irish nation based around the Flag and T.F. Meagher, one of Ireland's most famous nationalists would be something that would interest locals and tourists alike.
In the actual proposal document I've thought of that and though the festival should be book-ended each year with the ceremonies in Waterford and Dublin, the route should change from year to year to keep it interesting and to keep everyone on their toes. Also there's nothing stopping the flag hitting 2 counties in one day if we need to hit all 32 counties every year.
I was thinking that an independent committee should be set up to evaluate the route each year based on proposals put in by the county, town, borough and city councils and also groups within counties etc. but that could be all ironed out if the festival was given the nation's blessing.
Wouldn't it be something else to see this dream turned into a reality???
Love the Idea Cian and I'd love to see it happen, but there's one little problem, there's 17 days to get the flag thru all 26 counties, you may find people or councils arguing that their town or county wasn't given enough attention by the media due to the fact that the flag had to do two counties on 9 of the days. And if you take the flag North you'll need to cover 2 counties every day and Dublin on the 17th.
Ideally the festival would be kept within the St. Patrick's Season i.e. 1st - 17th of March, but I would hope that the flag would spend its fair share of days in North of Ireland every year during the relay stages. This should be an island wide event as the flag symbolises peace between all people on this Island of ours.
Cian Foley 17/03/2010
