Sligo Jadotville heroes forgotten
Westmeath County Council has been the only Local Authority to specifically honour the Jadotville men.
It conferred a Scroll of Citation on James Gormley to record his “courage and bravery” at a ceremony earlier this year.
“It’s a wonder Sligo County Council wouldn’t do the same,” muses James.
“It’d be nice to see County Sligo doing something for their soldiers who served at Jadotville, even though Sligo County Council did nothing for us.
“Each county should have done something, Donegal and Sligo. They should be invited to some sort of civic reception like Westmeath County Council organised,” he says.
When contacted by The Sligo Champion, a spokesperson for Sligo County Council said that “Sligo County Council has hosted ceremonies to honour soldiers who have served in the Irish Army or with the United Nations, most recently the National Day of Commemoration Ceremony held on 9 th July.
They said they had “no request to honour the local soldiers who fought in the Siege of Jadotville” but would discuss it with Cathaoirleach Cllr Seamus Kilgannon.
This Sunday, James Gormley and the men of ‘A’ Company Jadotville heroes will for the first time be officially honoured by the Irish UN Veterans Association for their bravery in the call of duty.
Each veteran or next-of-kin will receive an engraved presentation at a ceremony in the McWilliam Hotel, Claremorris, Co. Mayo at 1pm.
James is looking forward to the occasion, to meeting old comrades he fought alongside, “old timers like myself.”
It’s been 56 years coming. The reception the men got when they were released from captivity in 1961 was far from welcoming. The surrender was seen as a national embarrass- ment and the men’s bravery was ignored.
“It was bad, very bad. The top brass in Dublin said Comdt Quinlan shouldn’t have surrendered at all,” says James.
“He did the right thing to surrender. It was either that or get massacred” insists James.
Calls throughout the 1990’s to have the men officially honoured fell on deaf ears. There was no political will.
Jadotville was swept under the carpet until Junior Minister Paul Kehoe awarded the men Citations on September 17 th 2016.
A Netflix movie was also released last year on the Siege with Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan in the lead role.