Soldiers, not traitors

Published: 10th December, 2010

• PATRICK Burke seems to think it unremarkable that “the British” would use chemical weapons on Irish people (Snubbed as traitors, November 25). Most ordinary British people would be horrified at the thought.

Mr Burke describes Éamon de Valera as simply “anti-British”. He was dubious about the idea that the influence of British Empire was benign. 

Apparently, Irish people “knew Germany was the real enemy, not Britain”. Where is the evidence that Irish people regarded the people of England, Scotland or Wales as enemies? Many who joined the British forces regarded fascism as more immediately deadly than imperialism. That is not to say they did not depreciate British imperialism.

Ex-service personnel were not snubbed by the Irish government. Men like Tom Barry and Emmett Dalton were decidedly not perceived as traitors. Remembrance is now a commemoration of every war the UK has fought since 1914. Does Mr Burke think that what the British forces did in Kenya, just as an example, is worth commemorating?  
Seán McGouran
Tollington Way, N7