Commemoration events in Belfast and Edinburgh mark the centenary of the birth of James Connolly.
James Connolly, socialist and one of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising was born in Edinburgh on 5 June 1868. He lived in Belfast from 1910 – 1913 when he was a union official in the city.
In Belfast, to mark the centenary of the birth of James Connolly, about 1,000 people take part in the Connolly parade along the Falls Road to McRory Park where there is a crowd of 5,000. The parade is led by a colour party bearing the Irish tricolor and the Irish Army flag.
In Edinburgh, Counsellor at the Irish Embassy in London Dr Edward J Brennan unveils a plaque to the memory of James Connolly. The plaque, erected by the Edinburgh and District Trade Council, is near the site of James Connolly's birthplace at 107 Cowgate.
The attendance at the plaque unveiling includes James Connolly’s daughter Senator Nora Connolly O’Brien, the President of the Irish Congress of Trades Unions James Dunne and representatives of the Belfast and Edinburgh Trades Councils.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 9 June 1968. The footage shown here is mute.
