On Friday 3 June, the Irish Ambassador, Pádraig MacCoscair, opened an exhibition of books written by Irish authors who, in one way or another, were connected to the Easter Rising that took place in Ireland. It was thanks to this uprising that Ireland made a leap forward towards forming the Irish Free State in 1922.

Among the exhibited works, one finds books by Thomas MacDonagh and Roger Casement. These authors and intellectuals were eventually executed for their participation in this uprising. MacDonagh was a poet, playwright and educationalist. Casement who worked for the Colonial Services was commissioned to investigate the human rights situationin the Belgian Congo. He delivered a long detailed eyewitness report, which became known as the Casement Report. He was also sent to South America where he was attached to a commission investigating rubber slavery in Peru. He had made it his mission to report on the bad conditions of the workers all over the world.

There are also books by Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887–1916) who, besides being a leading journalist and poet, was one of the most important leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. Plunkett died in action. There are writings by the Irish woman suffragette Constance GeorgineMarkievicz, known as Countess Markievicz. These historic mementos cannot but evoke strong emotions. 

There were other works by engaged Irish scholars. Some of the books are signed and today worth thousands of Euros. All the works are first editions. They form part of a generous bequest made to our University Library by Mr. David Elyan. At the opening of the exhibition, Mr. Elyan explained that major libraries in Ireland have copies of first editions of Irish authors that were published in Ireland and the UK. But this collection has also copies of first editions published in the United States.Some of these editions are not necessarily available in leading libraries in Ireland. Moreover, this donation has the best collection of books by the Irish writer Joseph O’Connor, who Mr. Elyan knew personally. O’Connor’s battalion was the last to surrender to the British during the 1916 uprising.

I don’t know whether it was a mere coincidence but this exhibition was opened when Malta was celebrating its uprising against our past colonial master, which happened three years later. The Maltese uprising was not an armed one but it still left its victims when six Maltese died from shotsfired by English soldiers into the crowd.

This exhibition highlights an interesting element about Ireland, which is also relevant to Maltese history. Ireland was a hotbed of artistic creativity at the time. Many of the Irish key literary figures belonged to this period. What we forget is that Malta too was undergoing a literary revival, even though, as a nation, we fail to acknowledge this fact. Our riots happened at a time when a strong national awareness was being formed thanks to the literary output that was taking place around this period.

There is also the role played by political parties that cannot be overlooked. In Ireland, the Labour movement had great importance. In Malta, the Labour Party was not yet founded, but the dockyard workers and their unions had a role to play in these protests.

But there are differences too. In recent time, Ireland is giving more importance to the role of women in this Easter uprising. Their role, as combatants, is starting to be studied. In Malta, we are still too far behind and the study of the role of women, who went to Valletta to give support to Maltese politicians, has not yet taken off. There were women who acted as support agents during the 1919 demonstrations. I am strongly convinced that this is an area where more research needs to be undertaken.

No doubt, women were responsible for keeping the memory of this action alive among their children. On my part, the first time that I heard about the SetteGiugno uprising was through my paternal grand mother who was a teenager at the time. She spoke with passion and explained to me how the news of what was happening in Valletta started to reach the village of Paola, where she lived. Even an uncle of my father ended up arrested, it seems for the wrong reasons.   

The present monument of the Sette Giugno does not recognize this important female element. At least, the one commissioned for the tombs of the four victims expresses a sort of political submission, reminiscent of the Romantic Age, but still sought to give credit to the female figure. A woman was chosen to express the sorrow of a nation. 

After all these years, both countries are still exploiting these events for political reasons. In Malta, we are having a discussion whether the SetteGiugno should be translated into Maltese or left in Italian. I strongly believe that we should continue referring to it in Italian, as this forms part of the reality of our heritage. Then, there is the issue of the monument, a point that was rightly raised by the Speaker. There is a suggestion that it should go to Pjazza Reġina and replace Queen Victoria. In fact, when this monument was commissioned, the brief given to the sculptor Anton Agius was that it was going to be placed in Pjazza Regina. This is why Agius projected an elongated monument to fit into this closed urban space. I will not enter into the issue whether this monument should replace the one of Queen Victoria, but due to its style and form, it is neither suited for Pjazza San Ġorġ nor for Hastings Gardens. I don’t think that the monument of Queen Victoria should be removed. But any re-allocation requires a complete intelligent overview of all monuments in Valletta and Floriana. Playing musical chairs is not the answer.   

What is important for the Irish and for us is how we are going to continue remembering these two distinct and separate events that happened during our shared colonial past. Judging from the comments on the various blogs, I can state that a number of points made by the Speaker gained consensus with the general public. It is this type of popular consensus braced by a vivid discussion on various issues related to this event that helps prevent it from falling into a political amnesia.

I would like to invite the general public to go to the University Library to visit this exhibition; a labour of love by the current Ambassador of Ireland who took great interest to set it up and chose the books. Well done to all those involved.