Army house is named after Wexford man
A RETIRED Wexford army man who died eight years ago has been posthumously honoured by having a meeting house for ex-soldiers named after him in Athlone, County Westmeath.
Mick McCarth House has been named after the late Drinagh man whose proud family members attended the official opening by Minister of State with responsibility for Defence and the OPW Paul Kehoe along with senior military management.
The premises for Post 9 of the Irish United Nations Veterans in Athlone will be used by ex-soldiers to meet and socialise and to access information about pensions and social welfare entitlements.
Minister Kehoe paid tribute to Mr. McCarth’s service and commitment to the Defence Forces and said he was the first President of Post 9.
‘Indeed Mick passed away while holding the office of President in 2010. Mick came from Drinagh, near Wexford town in the same county as myself ’, he told the assembled guests.
‘He joined the army in 1946 and won several All-Army Individual Gymnastic, Vicars Machine Gun and Gustaf Machine Gun Awards during his service’.
The Minister recalled that Mick trained in the Curragh and served in Custume Barrack in Athlone, in the 6th Infantry Battalion and the Command Training Depot, Western Command.
‘He was with the first Irish group to serve in the Congo and he also served three tours in Cyprus. He retired in the rank of Brigade Sergeant Major and was one of the founder members of Post 9 IUNVA Athlone in 2009’, he said.
‘He was a man who gave outstanding service to the Defence Forces and it is fitting that we gather here today to officially open the house named in his memory’, said the Minister.
Paying tribute to Post 9 and the wider veterans associations, Deputy Kehoe said he is acutely conscious of the tremendous work they do in looking after former UN veterans who have fallen on hard times.
‘I’m also aware of your great work in visiting veterans in local hospitals and hospices.’
‘I know you also render honours at the funerals of veterans. Thank you for your service’, he told them.