Plans for a museum, scholarship awarded but no postage stamp to mark 100 years since the foundation of the Land League.
The Irish Land League was founded in by Michael Davitt in 1879. A number of events to mark the centenary of the foundation of the Land League took place in Galway. Plans were shown for museum to be built in the Mayo village of Straide where Michael Davitt was born. The first Michael Davitt Memorial Scholarship was presented to Michael Ryan from Ballinasloe.
Padraic Filan chairman of the Michael Davitt Association expressed his disappointment that no commemorative postage stamp has been issued to mark one hundred years since the formation of the Land League.
I cannot understand what the criteria were which the department used to exclude something as important as the centenary of the foundation of the Land League.
Padraic Finlan remains optimistic it is not too late for a Michael Davitt and Irish Land League commemoration postage stamp to be issued in 1979.
If we can learn anything from Davitt's life, it's certainly that it's never too late to seize whatever opportunity presents itself.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 6 February 1979. The reporter is Jim Fahy.
