Denying a minority access to church at Easter is intolerable

The increasingly small minority of people on the island, mostly of the Protestant tradition, who do not accept the narrative are right to challenge it continually, by – for example – pointing out that the Easter Rising had minimal support at first. A letter writer from Co Kildare, opposite, condemns what he considers to be nationalist myths.

Such details are barely mentioned now, a mere century after the event. Will anyone at all be aware of the different narrative in two or three or eight centuries from now?

But the Republic will of course follow whatever course it wishes in marking the centenary of the rising. Some events, such as one to mark the Royal Irish Constabulary policemen who died in 1916 violence, are a clear attempt to be inclusive.

But now an extraordinary, and intolerable, development has arisen that threatens any spirit of inclusivity.

Seven Protestant churches in Dublin will be forced to close on the most significant day in the Christian calendar to facilitate the centenary celebrations.

The Church of Ireland Archbishop Michael Jackson says an Irish government decree, issued without consultation, is behind the Easter Sunday closures. Police have requested the front gates of Christ Church Cathedral remain locked all day.

To get a sense of what is being demanded, imagine how it would be received if, on the centenary of the Ulster Covenant, a single Catholic church had had to close on a normal Sunday, let alone seven on the most important Sunday of them all.

There is no possibility it would happen. The mere suggestion would lead to uproar across Catholic Ireland, and politicians and church folk from across the Irish diaspora would weigh in in outrage.

Protestants in the Republic are a tiny minority, but the Anglicans have reacted with disappointment and dignity to this restriction. We hope the authorities will have a rethink.