TWO seminal events in Ireland's history - the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme - will be the focus of a major conference being held by the Presbyterian Church in January.
'The Future of Our Past: Remembering and Reassessing 1916' will seek to explore the events of 100 years ago and discuss how they came to exert such a central place in how Ireland views its past and present.
Among those joining the conference is Heather Humphreys, the Republic's Minister of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, along with leading academics and commentators.
As well as looking back, the conference will also consider wider questions around current relationships in Ireland that have been shaped by the events of 1916 and address ways in which conversations about the future can be reformed.
Professor Stafford Carson, principal of Union Theological College and one of the conference organisers, said he hoped the conference would make a positive contribution to the public debate around Ireland's history.
"The Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme have been assimilated into the mythology of Irish history and as a result, they have helped us to create conflicting accounts of the past," he said.
"Both were important historical events in their own right. Their significance however, also lies in how both came to be understood as iconic moments in the emergence of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland."
Prof Carson said that by positioning the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme in their historical context, he hoped it would "help us to consider their implications for today".
"Indeed, we hope that this conference will help to open up the conversation about how we might work together for the common good in the context of different understandings of the past," he said.
Heather Humphreys - the only Presbyterian member of the Oireachtas - said that debate and analysis was "a very important element of our commemorative programme for 2016".
"I am delighted to be joining this major conference, which will no doubt spark interesting and lively discussions on the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme," she said.
"A century on, we can look back on both of these events from a modern context, and better explore their impacts on the Ireland of today.
"By exploring our shared history we can better understand and respect the differing traditions on this island."
Historians Dr Fearghal McGarry and Prof Keith Jeffery, commentators Ruth Dudley Edwards and Eamonn Mallie and Dr Trevor Morrow, a former Presbyterian minister in Lucan, Co Dublin, are among the conference's other speakers.
:: 'The Future of Our Past: Remembering and Reassessing 1916' will take place on Thursday January 21 2016 at Assembly Buildings, 2-4 Fisherwick Place, Belfast. More information at www.presbyterianireland.org/publicsquare
