LAST UPDATE | 4 Apr 2021

EVENTS TO MARK the 105th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising have taken place in Dublin.

The annual commemoration began with a ceremonial ringing of the Peace Bell at Áras an Uachtaráin by President Michael D Higgins.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Defence Minister Simon Coveney and Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu also attended a prayer and a reading of the Proclamation from the GPO in O’Connell Street.

Both events were restricted and socially distanced due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Captain Marie Carrigy from Co Longford stood on the steps of the GPO and read the Proclamation before the President was invited to lay a wreath at a group of 16 birch trees at Áras an Uachtaráin.

The Proclamation is read by Captain Marie Carrigy from Co Longford during the annual commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising at the GPO in Dublin pic.twitter.com/AtcKcvwUIz

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 4, 2021

The trees were planted by the President and his wife Sabina in 2019 to give effect to a resolution by the first Dáil in 1919 that they should be planted in memory of those executed in 1916.

The laying of the wreath was followed by a minute’s silence to commemorate those who died in the Easter Rising. Those who died during the Covid-19 pandemic were also remembered.

A rendition of the Last Post was then played at the GPO, before the national flag was raised at half-mast.

The GPO even also featured a military ceremony, music, prayers and a performance of the National Anthem by soprano Claudia Boyle.