Irish in WWI deserve to be recognised like fighters of 1916
IN his speech at Glasnevin Cemetery on Sunday to commemorate the Irish soldiers who fought in World War I, President Higgins said: ‘For many years there was an uncertainty, even a reticence, to recognise the human reality of World War I… the reticence was reflected by a form of official amnesia.’
For most of our history as an independent state the 200,000 Irish people who fought with the British army during the Great War, and the 49,000 who died, have been largely forgotten. And in some cases those who survived the war have been clearly discriminated against.
The reasons for this have their roots in the Easter 1916 Rising when a group of nationalists tried to declare an independent state.
Considering the fact that 2,558 people took part nationwide in the Easter 1916 Rising (figures published by the Military Pensions Archive) it could be argued that there was greater support nationally at that time for people joining the British army. In fact, because Ireland was part of the UK then, they were simply fighting for their own country.
In London, Ireland’s ambassador to Britain, Dan Mulhall, laid a wreath at the Cenotaph. This was the first time Ireland was represented there at the Armistice commemorations since becoming a Republic in 1949.
My granduncle Eddie Costello, from Gortaganny, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, never returned from France while fighting for the British army during the war.
Finally, he and the other 200,000 Irish people involved are being properly recognised by the Irish State.
These people deserve as much recognition as the Easter 1916 fighters. TOMMY RODDY, Salthill, Galway.