A motion has been passed by Cork County Council urging that the Minister for Education requests that Amhrán na bhFiann be taught and sung as a compulsory element of the weekly school curriculum in both primary and secondary schools nationwide.
A full meeting of the Council yesterday backed Aontú councillor Peter O’Donoghue’s motion requesting the local authority to write to the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton and seek the teaching and singing of the national anthem weekly in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the adoption of Amhrán na bhFiann.
He said that he had put forward the motion having observed that many Irish people can’t sing their own national anthem.
Speaking following the success of the motion, Cllr O’ Donoghue said: ““This is the 100th Anniversary of the official adoption of Amhrán Na bhFiann as our national anthem and it is fitting that we do all in our power to ensure it is taught , it is learned and sung with pride and respect.”
“It is a fabulous anthem and gained major traction as a marching song during the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence, not least here in cork where the mountains reverberated with the sound of it as brave men and women sung it passionately,” he said.
“A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolising a country’s history, culture, and values. It fosters unity, instils national pride, and serves as an official sonic representation of a state. National Anthems are sung with pride in countries throughout the world,” he added.
The Aontú Councillor said that when he worked in Canada he observed that “every Monday morning the National Anthem of Canada was sung by all the pupils.”
“It was a very powerful experience.2 he said. “I spoke to cousins of mine in New Zealand, and they told me that they sang the New Zealand National Anthem every Friday in school.2
“A friend of mine living in Kenya, Derry Desmond from Watergrasshill who operates the Charity, Le Cheile Africa sent me a message this morning of a picture of 400 Kenyan children singing their national anthem this morning. They sing it every Monday and Friday morning. Fantastic to see.”
“Many other counties across the world make it mandatory for students to sing their countries National Anthem every week including The United States, Mexico and India to name a few,” Cllr O’Donoghue said.
“As a result of students having to sing their national anthem every week, the people in all these countries, from young students to the elderly know their national anthem off by heart and as a result sing it with pride and gusto.”
“Unfortunately we cannot say the same here in Ireland. Many Irish people don’t actually know their own national anthem and therefore don’t understand the significance or meaning of it and unfortunately can’t sing it.”
“The Irish state is actually failing by not ensuring that every Irish citizen is taught Ireland’s national anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann in Irish classrooms. This has to change!” he said.
“In the future, all children who attend primary and secondary school in Ireland should be taught our national anthem, Amhrán Na bhFiann. The best way to do this in my opinion is for every student to sing it at least once a week in school and the best year to make this a compulsory part of our schools weekly education programme is this year, 2026, the 100 year anniversary of our official adaptation of Amhran na BhFiann as our national anthem.”
In 1910 “A Soldiers Song “ was written by Peadar Kearney, with its melody created by his good friend and neighbour Patrick Heeney.
Originally written in English, Irish civil servant and also neighbour of Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney, Liam Ó Rinn completed the Irish translation shortly after the Easter Rising.
Amhrán na bhFiann was officially adopted as Ireland’s national anthem on July 12th 1926.