On the occasion of France’s first National Day Honoring the Victims of Terrorism, the Embassy of France to Ireland is organizing a Commemorative Ceremony with the pupils and staff of the Lycée Français d’Irlande (French school in Ireland), on both Foxrock and Clonskeagh sites.
The ceremony will start at 10am at the primary school in Foxrock, with 300 pupils forming a heart-shaped human chain. 2 pupils will then read a poem, followed by a few words by H.E. Stéphane Crouzat, French Ambassador to Ireland.
The remembrance moment will then move to the secondary and high school in Clonskeagh (Eurocampus), where the pupils will display a large painting on fraternity. French Ambassador to Ireland H.E. Stéphane Crouzat will read an address by President Macron, and a student will read the letter “Vous n’aurez pas ma haine”, written by a survivor of the 2015 Bataclan attacks.
German Ambassador to Ireland H.E. Deike Potzel and Spanish Ambassador to Ireland H.E. Ildefonso Castro will attend the commemorative ceremony.
A moment of silence led by the Ambassador will be observed at 11:25am, followed by la Marseillaise, played by the school band.
French President Emmanuel Macron decided last year to establish a national day of tribute and remembrance of victims of terrorism. This annual commemoration will now take place every 11 March, the same day as the one celebrated in Europe. This symbolic date is a reference to the Madrid attacks on 11 March 2004 and to the first attack of French terrorist Mohamed Merah on 11 March 2012 in Toulouse and Montauban.
