Today the 1916 rebels are seen as heroes by the nationalists and especially by republicans, republicans believe that they are the true heirs of the 1916 rebels, though they do not glorify them memory of the leader, and that the government of the ROI betrayed the ideas of the 1916 by accepting the Anglo-Irish peace treaty created in 1921. The rising is seen as the rebirth of the Irish nation. The provisional IRA and other modern republicans are inspired by the actions and ideology of the 1916 rebels, they a link in the uprisings throughout the year and they view this as a continuity.
Modern Nationalists admire the bravery of the 1916 rebels. The SDLP in Northern Ireland argue however that violence is not the most effective strategy for achieving a free united Ireland. Nationalist in the republic of Ireland see the 1916 rebels differently, they see the rebels as heroes, martyrs and fathers of the nation. The Easter rising is widely commemorated today, giving it an official status by the republic of Ireland, it is commemorated by things such as memorials, stamps, flags, national anthem, Easter lilies.
Although many nationalists in the republic of Ireland think that the 1916 rising should be downplayed as it leads to inspire further republican violence(These people would tend to now vote for Fine Gael), by people such as the provisional IRA and now dissident republicans (people who are more attached to the Easter Rising support Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein. Because by glorifying the events it could lead to further republican violence and allow for people to think they can justify their reasoning, an example of this is the recent attacks on British soldiers and police men, both were IRA attacks, they carried out these attacks because they are making a stand and that no united Ireland can be achieved through political means. Similarly to the Easter rising the public do not agree with this, recently British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC: "I think the whole country is shocked and outraged at the evil and cowardly attacks on soldiers serving their country... No murderer will be able to derail a peace process that has the support of the great majority of Northern Ireland."
Although thousands of Irishmen fought for Britain in World War 1, they are now forgotten about and are not celebrated, not only by the people of Ireland but by the government too. Luckily this is starting to change, we can see these changes in commemorations, and for example, when President McAleese laid a wreath at a memorial tower with the Queen of England, in Belgium. In 1966 loyalists exploited the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising to create the appearance of a new Easter Rising, and that it was a republican plot to destroy Northern Ireland. The UVF planted bombs all over Northern Ireland and then blamed the IRA, this lead the public to believe that they had not moved on and they should not be trusted. Unionist and loyalists will never agree with them but the loyalist admired the courage, organisation, bravery and discipline the Irish rebels had in 1916.
