On Easter Sunday Ireland marks the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising in Dublin city centre.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Dublin for the main Easter Sunday State commemoration ceremony and parade to mark the 1916 Easter Rising.
Over 2,000 members of the Defence Forces took part in the parade from Saint Stephen's Green to the General Post Office on O'Connell Street.
At the College of Surgeons, one of the buildings seized by the rebels during the Rising, flags were handed over to lead the parade. At the former seat of British rule in Dublin Castle, the national flag was held aloft by Air Corps Lt Gearóid Ó Briain, who is the great-grandson of rebel leader Cathal Brugha. President Michael D Higgins inspected a guard of honour at the GPO.
Among the invited guests were former Presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson, and political leaders from all parties across Ireland.
The ceremony at the GPO began with a prayer, read by Fr Seamus Madigan of the Irish Defence Forces.
On this Easter day of new beginnings, we remember the men, the women and the children of 1916, whose short lives and big dreams extended the horizons of our hopes.
A lone piper played 'Down by the Salley Gardens' as children representing the four provinces of Ireland laid flowers outside the GPO.
The centrepiece of the commemorations was the reading of the Proclamation by Capt Peter Kelleher.
We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland.
Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny paid tribute to the rebel leaders of 1916. President Michael D Higgins laid a wreath outside the GPO on behalf of the people of Ireland. The national flag was raised to full mast on top above the GPO, and the national anthem played out.
A flypast by the Air Corps signalled the start of the military parade, which passed by the GPO, the historic birthplace of the Irish Republic.
Irish UN peacekeeping troops, past and present, were also honoured for their service overseas. The emergency services were also part of the parade, led by members of An Garda Síochána.
Ireland today paying tribute to the leaders of the 1916 Rising, looking back 100 years to a moment when all changed, changed utterly.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 March 2016. The reporter is Bryan Dobson.
