Juno would not approve of poppy hysteria

Nugent: (loudly, above the noise of the gramophone). Are yous goin’ to have that thing bawlin’ an’ the funeral of Mrs. Tancred’s son passin’ the house? Have none of yous any respect for the Irish people’s National regard for the dead? [Boyle stops the gramophone.

Mrs. Boyle: Maybe, Needle Nugent, it’s nearly time we had a little less respect for the dead, an’ a little more regard for the livin’

– Juno and the Paycock, Sean O’Casey

CAPTAIN Boyle and Joxer Daly may have been blessed with some of the more crowd-pleasing lines, but to many, including yours truly, Mrs Boyle has always been the beating heart of Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock.

A strong woman surrounded by weak men, Juno Boyle is the breadwinner and moral powerhouse of the classic O’Casey work, and the play is littered with quotes that have stood the test of time, none more so than the one above.

Juno could easily have been talking about the United Kingdom this week, a country that seems to have developed an interesting case of remembrance fatigue.

November, of course, is when Britain rolls out the poppy in remembrance of all who have died in combat, in particular those who have fallen in the First and Second World Wars.

The UK has seen its obsession with the poppy grow over recent years to almost hysterical levels. There wasn’t many willing to risk sticking their head above the parapet to question the role of the poppy and how the country remembers its war dead, given that the country has spent the previous five years marking various 100th anniversaries around World War One.

This year however has seen a marked shift in public discourse, with many now asking is the manner in which Britain remembers its war dead still fit for purpose. Many rightly take issue with the compulsory nature of the poppy – if you are any kind of public figure in the UK, you simply must wear one.

Just ask Republic of Ireland soccer player James McClean, who has been vilified in some quarters in Britain over his decision not to wear a poppy on his club jersey on match days. Given McClean’s family history, it is totally understandable that he has taken this stance. His family grew up only a couple of hundred yards away from St Mary’s Church in Creggan, where the mass funeral of 13 of the 14 Bloody Sunday victims took place in 1972. Yet to some in Britain, he remains a hate figure.

Yet McClean has held firm in his stance throughout his career, and his steadfast refusal to bow to conformity should be admired.

Remembrance Sunday should be about taking stock and learning from the lessons of the past, yet with the undeniable rise in dangerous far-right rhetoric across the UK and Europe, you would wonder is any of it sinking in.

The UK is at saturation point with the poppy now, but are they remembering at all? Has the poppy become more of a fashion statement than a genuine token of remembrance for the brave souls of who died on battlefields across Europe?

Here in Ireland, the relationship with the poppy is even more complicated still, and with good reason. For some, the poppy is a toxic symbol of British imperialism and should be avoided at all costs. Given the complexities of the Troubles, such a viewpoint is understandable.

Yet what of the families of the thousands of Irishmen who died in British uniforms during the two world wars? For years, these Irishmen were redacted from our nation’s conscious. It was a dirty little secret that so many signed up with the British to fight in the wars and it is only in the very recent past that we have had the maturity to acknowledge their actions. For many Irish, wearing a poppy is a nod to all the men who died in foreign battlefields.

My maternal grandfather was born into a staunch republican family in the midlands a few weeks before the start of the Irish Civil War in 1922. His family was very much anti treaty. Fast forward 18 years and my grandfather’s older brother, Joe Kiernan, had joined the Royal Air Force and was flying Lancaster bombers across the deadly skies of northern Europe.

He did this not out of any sense of loyalty to the crown or sense of duty for the common good. He did it simply because employment opportunities in the midlands in 1940 were, like everywhere else in the country, dire. He emigrated to England and found a career with the RAF, there was nothing noble about his calling. Yet he died in battle nonetheless, his plane shot down over Belgium.

I have never felt the urge to wear a poppy but if I did, I’d like to think that people would understand and respect my reason for wearing it. I should be able to honour Joe Kiernan’s memory while also maintaining the view that the British military carried out numerous atrocities on our island. Am I asking too much that such a nuanced stance be possible?

By the same token, James McClean should be able to wear his poppyless Stoke City jersey without being spat at by fans at matches.

In other words, a little less respect for the dead, and a little more for the living.

Juno was right…