Catholic emancipation was a “landmark civil rights achievement” and should be celebrated accordingly by the State, say leading academics.

The bicentenary of the historic 1829 milestone did not appear in the ‘Commemoration’ section of the programme for government which listed several events the new Government “could mark” in their 5-year term.

While it is implied that Catholic emancipation will be addressed as part of a 250th anniversary commemoration of the birth of Daniel O’Connell this year, Prof. Emeritus of History in UCD Maurice Bric told The Irish Catholic that he hoped a State commemoration of Catholic Emancipation would occur in 2029 as it is “such an important event in Irish history for a number of reasons, the main reason being it marks the repeal of the penal laws”.

Prof. Bric said that in addition Catholic emancipation is not “just a chapter in the history of Irish Catholicism, it’s part of the wider history of civil rights”.