On January 1919, Dáil Éireann met for the first time in the Mansion House in Dublin.

To mark the centenary on Monday, the Dáil sat in the Mansion House to mark the inaugural public meeting.

It included a Joint Sitting of both Houses of the Oireachtas in the Round Room - as well as an address by President Michael D Higgins.

Dáil Éireann in session in the Mansion House in 1919 | Image: National Library of Ireland

President Higgins said:"The establishment of Dáil Éireann was not only a revolutionary act of national self-determination.

"It was an act of defiance against an empire that ruled over vast territories and diverse peoples, an assertion that sovereignty belonged not to the crown, but to the Irish people alone.

"Given the great forces ranged against that claim, the first Dáil represented an act of extraordinary imagination and courage, a courage that would be called upon to be matched and surpassed by the Irish people time and time again in the turbulent and difficult years that followed."

"At their meeting on the 21st of January 1919, the first Dáil Éireann ratified four documents. They constituted proclamations of intent, offered as further inspiration for the great struggle for Ireland's independence.

"The ideals invoked on that day - of national self-determination, of republican equality, of the sovereignty of the people - constituted a magnificent invocation of the principles that had been bequeathed by those revolutionaries who had gone before, and a continuation of the great chain of liberty forged by the United Irishmen, the Young Irelanders, the Fenians, through to the men and women of 1916.

"The Declaration of Independence adopted by Dáil Éireann ratified the Proclamation of the Republic that had been read from the steps of the General Post Office on the 24th of April 1916 and re-iterated that all lawful authority in Ireland emanated from the Irish people.

"The sovereignty of the people was now to be the source and origin of our legal order."

A commemorative poster showing all 69 Members of the First Dáil | Image: Oireachtas.ie

"The first Dáil was part and symbol not only of a national struggle, but was a reflection of a global movement for national self-determination, one that had united peoples from India to Vietnam, from Poland to Algeria".

"We must recognise, however, on this centenary, that the first Dáil did not represent the aspirations of all of the people on our island.

"In December 1918, over a quarter of a million men and women, mostly, but not wholly, in the north-east of our island, had voted to maintain the union between Britain and Ireland.

"We are tested in the acts of commemoration we undertake as to the authenticity we will bring in terms of the necessary generosity that is required in remembering, of the space and hospitality made available to narratives, that we share as to time and experience, but differ in our interpretation.

"Many Irish citizens in Northern Ireland will join us today in celebrating the events of 100 years ago as a momentous step towards our independence.

"Let us also acknowledge, however, that the legitimacy of Dáil Éireann and its institutions was not accepted by a significant number of people, particularly by a majority in the counties that were later to be incorporated into the entity that came to be Northern Ireland."

Ceann Comhairle Sean O'Fearghaíl speaking with (from left) President Michael D Higgins and (from right) Cathaoirleach Senator Denis O’Donovan at the event to honour 100 years since the sitting of the first Dáil at the Mansion House in Dublin | Image: Maxwellphotography.ie

"Our task will not simply be to memorialise the past, but to confront the complex legacies of our history with sympathy and empathy, and in a way that embraces the future with compassion and the joy that may come from our deepened respect for the Other.

"We can and will differ, not only in our interpretation of the past but in our vision for the future. Even as we do so, we can, and we must, demonstrate that we are open to the stories, perspectives and hopes of all the people of our shared island."

"We must not be afraid to face the past, including all of the violence and cruelties released from pent-up exclusions, deprivations and humiliations.

"Let us not look with any trepidation towards the commemorations of the coming years, lest we be tempted to avert our gaze, take refuge in evasion, or seek to ignore the difficult questions they shall raise for us all.

"Let us instead explore our past with open hearts and open minds, respecting all of the traditions that exist or endure on our island of migrant peoples."

"True nationalism addresses need, not only as part of a nation, but as part of an international family of nations."https://t.co/rAR7g5JOOy #Dáil100 pic.twitter.com/VkBdlOjI25

— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) January 21, 2019

A Centenary Declaration was also signed by the Ceann Comhairle and the Cathaoirleach.

Also speaking at the event, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "It is significant that the Declaration of Independence was read out in Irish, French, and English.

"The vision of a free, independent republic was multilingual in approach and multilateral in outlook.

"It was one which sought to 're-establish justice, to provide for future defence, to insure peace at home and goodwill with all nations and to constitute a national polity based upon the people's will with equal right and equal opportunity for every citizen'. They are the same principles which guide us today."

"Through our membership of the EU, through our role with the United Nations and the peacekeeping missions we have been involved in, we have turned the dream of Ireland taking her place among the nations of the world into a reality."

"A betrayal of those ideals"

"Over time, the new Irish state would establish policies 'for the care of the Nation's aged and infirm, who shall not be regarded as a burden, but rather entitled to the Nation's gratitude and consideration'.

"Health services were established to safeguard the health of the people and ensure the physical well-being of the country, services that serves us well, despite the problems.

"The Democratic Programme also points to where the State has fallen short.

"Its assertion that 'the first duty of the Government of the Republic' will be to ensure 'that no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter, but that all shall be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training' reminds us of our responsibilities to children.

"Industrial schools, illegal adoptions, and Mother and Baby Homes were a betrayal of those ideals.

"Although today the rate of child poverty in Ireland is only a fraction of what it was one hundred years ago, and is falling, we must do better."

"So today is an opportunity to recall the past and look to the future. The meeting of the first Dáil was a bold exercise in democracy, an assertion that the struggle for Irish independence had the support of the Irish people, and derived its legitimacy from them.

"By honouring the first Dáil we reaffirm our belief in its democratic integrity, concourse with the world, and rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of its values and aspirations."

"Much more for us to do"

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin added: "The first Dáil was the assembly of a rising people determined not only to achieve freedom but also to use that freedom to create new possibilities.

"The documents they adopted during their first sitting spoke of a country which saw itself as part of an international community and of a parliament which saw the people and their interests as sovereign.

"They had almost no control over the levers of power but they had an unbreakable will.

"The Dáil removed any possible doubt about the objective of what was soon to become a full war for independence. The Irish people sought nothing less than a free democracy."

"Much has been achieved since the Democratic Programme was issued.

"No one can deny the scale of progress which has been achieved. But equally the Democratic Programme stands, together with the Proclamation of 1916, as a permanent reminder to us of what we should be working for.

"It is impossible to hear the demand that 'no child shall suffer hunger or cold from a lack of food, clothing and shelter' and fail to understand how ours is a still incomplete democracy.

"With nearly 4,000 children without a home there is much, much more for us to do.

"Fianna Fáil believes that 1919 was a moment of great national purpose and one which belongs to no party. We strongly support the non-partisan and son-sectarian manner in which commemorations are being held."

The members who attended the first public session of Dáil Éireann | Image: National Library of Ireland

The First Dáil

In the general election of December 1918, members of the Sinn Féin party won 73 of the 105 Irish seats - but had pledged not to sit in Westminster.

Instead, they convened a representative assembly in Ireland and invited all the elected members for Ireland on on January 21st 1919.

The first Dáil produced a report of each of its 21 sessions.

Publishing this was a touchstone of the existence of an Irish parliament.

This official report was seen as documentary evidence that something of significance was happening.

Debates can be read here, as well as a roll-call of those present.

You can explore an interactive timeline here