Foreign heroes must be recognised

■ This Sunday, the National Day of Commemoration Ceremony is scheduled to be held in Collins Barracks, Dublin 7, at 10.30am, and is an appropriate way to commemorate Irishmen and Irishwomen who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations.

However, Ireland does not commemorate the vital contribution made by foreign nationals who lost their lives as a result of belligerent action while serving onboard neutral Irish flagged vessels during the emergency period 1939-1946.

Their sacrifice does not even merit a mention during the annual commemoration.

It seems the contribution of our foreign-born relatives towards supporting Irish neutrality during World War II has been forgotten by the Irish State.

Peter Mulvany Clontarf, Dublin