The Orangemen's Day, according to Patrick Costello of the Green Party, who represents Dublin South-Central, is "an extremely important one historically for the island, and culturally for many people who live here."

He requested that the Irish government declare July 12th a public holiday in a statement this morning, claiming that doing so would be a "major step" towards bringing all Irish citizens together.

Patrick said: “As part of the peace process we have made a number of gestures, such as amending articles 2 and 3 of the constitution. The new article 3 specifies that the state will work 'to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions'. I believe my proposal would see us living up to our constitutional obligation."

Both the 12th and St. Patrick's Day are recognised as public holidays in Northern Ireland, according to Mr. Costello, and "this too should be replicated here."

The TD summed up his statement with: “For too long the Irish state sought to portray a single narrative of Irish history, one that was isolationist, militant, nationalist and catholic. We know that history is not black and white, we know that there are numerous traditions on this island.

“If the Irish state truly aspires to unite all the peoples of this island, then all of those people need to feel represented and included. Designating the 12th as a public holiday would be a major step for that process."