EVENTS were held today to mark the 156th anniversary of the birth of revolutionary leader James Connolly, with the issue of Irish independence firmly back at the centre of the political agenda.

The Connolly Youth Movement’s Belfast branch paid tribute to the republican, socialist and Irish Citizen’s Army founder, who was born to Irish parents in Edinburgh on June 5 1868.

Musicians gave an online performance of Dominic Behan’s song Connolly Was There at a special commemoration of his life for the James Connolly Visitor Centre.

It was Connolly who, in his masterpiece Labour in Irish History, stressed the key role of the working class in the fight against British imperialism in Ireland.

He hailed working people as the “incorruptible inheritors of the fight for Irish freedom,” with the potential to transform into a powerful revolutionary force.

In 1916 he was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising that was brutally suppressed by the occupying British army. He and the other 15 men who had signed a declaration of independence were rounded up and executed.

He said at the time: “Don't worry. Those of us that signed the proclamation will be shot. But the rest of you will be set free.”