The Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC, has said the Easter Rising in 1916 lacked “any democratic or constitutional legitimacy”.

Speaking in an interview for a magazine called 1916-2016 The Rising & The Somme, Mr Larkin described the short-lived rebellion as “profoundly wrong”.

He added: “The Rising wasn’t justified in terms of any of the traditional Just War criteria – there was no mandate for it.

“One of the ironies of history is that it is often referred to as the Sinn Féin rebellion.

“It couldn’t have been a Sinn Féin rebellion – the official policy of the party up until 1917 wasn’t for a republic, but a monarchy on the Austro-Hungarian pattern.

“The 1916 Rising was a product of a secret revolutionary society, and an adventure that lacked any democratic or constitutional legitimacy.

“However, one much admires the courage and the self-sacrificing zeal for public welfare, though ill-judged, of many of those who took part in it.”