No need for poppies, we already commemorate our war dead
■ An increasing number of poppywearing TDs, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, appears to labour under the impression that Irishmen in British uniform who died for the “freedoms of small nations” have been ignored by the State. Clearly this is untrue.
How could anyone be unaware of the ceremonies held in Ireland in honour of those Irish who died in the Great War? The fact that we give our primary allegiance to those who established the Irish State, not to those who tried to prevent it, does not constitute neglect of those Irish who went away and never returned.
The first Sunday of July each year is set aside as the National Day of Commemoration whereby the State commemorates all those Irish who died in both world wars and on service with the UN. These ceremonies are attended by the president, Taoiseach, leaders of the Opposition and representatives of all the main churches, and are conducted in a dignified manner devoid of the pomp, pageant and jingoism of the British military ethos.
It is entirely proper that public ceremonies be held to commemorate the many thousands of Irish who went away to fight in the Great War and never returned.
What is not acceptable is the persistent campaign waged to confer a modern-day respectability upon the British army under the guise of honouring those Irish dead.
This yearly piece of revisionism cannot camouflage the fact that the Great War, supposedly undertaken in defence of small nations, was nothing more than an interimperialist conflict. It would be more honourable if instead of attempting to coerce the Irish State into commemorating a vast imperial war culture which was responsible for the mass murder of millions across Europe, they asked who was responsible for this unparalleled act of slaughter?
Tom Cooper
Templeogue, Dublin 6W