Former Assembly member, Jack McEneny, left, and Assembly member John McDonald III, second from left, take part in a reading of the 1916 Proclamation of the Republic, the historic 11-sentence proclamation of Irish Independence, on Monday, April 21, 2014, outside the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany. The proclamation was read to commemorate the date in Irish history that lead to the Easter Rising in Ireland&#039;s march to independence. The 11-sentence proclamation was originally read on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, by Patrick Pearse on the steps of the General Post Office on what is now Connell Street in Dublin. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)  