A COUNTY Limerick man’s request to use the dining room at the Mansion House as part of the Irish Republican Brotherhood‘s annual turning of the sovereign seal to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the constitution has been refused by the Lord Mayor of Dublin.
Cappagh native Billy McGuire, who is president of the once secret oath-bound fraternity, has carried out the tradition of his late father and grandfather since 1964. The sovereign seal, consisting of a harp with 12 strings, is an IRB emblem first used in 1919 to symbolise the transition of Ireland from a colony to an independent country.
“The 1916 proclamation and the sovereign constitution are the foundation documents of the State and are owned by the Irish Republican Brotherhood,” Mr McGuire declared.
On January 21 each year, Mr McGuire turns up at the Mansion House to carry out the ritualistic turning of the sovereign seal, which, he believes, gives validity to the Irish Republic.
In response to McGuire’s request to use the dining room of the Mansion House, the building where the sovereign seal was first unveiled, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Oisín Quinn decided to refuse permission.
In a letter to the IRB president, Mayor Quinn stated that in recent years Mr McGuire was granted permission to use the dining room of the Mansion House, subject to certain conditions and prior to that was facilitated in the entrance hall of the Mansion House.
“However these conditions were not adhered to. Also, the Mansion House and the Lord Mayor of the day, were not treated with the respect they are entitled to”, the Mayor explained.
“In addition, I have been informed that you attended an event on April 26, 2013, which was part organised by Dublin City Council and insisted on being allowed entry, despite not having registered for the conference, and were abusive and threatening to Dublin City Council staff and conference organisers who tried to assist you.”
“Having considered all of the above, I have decided to refuse permission for the use of the Mansion House for your ceremony,” Mayor Quinn replied.
Mr McGuire, who this week marks his 50th year involved in the tradition to re-assert the sovereignty of the Irish nation, told the Limerick Post that it would still go ahead, “on the footpath outside the Mansion House on Dawson Street.”
