Snubbed as traitors

Published: 26 November, 2010

• I’M not too sure what agenda Donal Kennedy might have in stating that the British were prepared to use chemical weapons in the event of the Germans landing in Ireland (Chemical weapons, November 19). 

He considers that fewer Irish citizens might have joined the Allies if this information had been available at the time. How does he know? 

If Mr Kennedy wants to pick a selected snippet from the Irish archives he might equally have quoted the fact that premier Eamon De Valera sent his condolences to the German Embassy following the death of Hitler. 

Certainly, there seems to be some evidence that De Valera, as anti-British as they come, might not have been averse to a German victory on the grounds that the South would get the North in the same way that people like the Ukrainians welcomed the German army, believing they would then be freed from Russian domination.

Thankfully, thousands of Irish citizens, including my father, chose to ignore their government’s neutrality and opted to fight with us. They knew that the real enemy was Germany, not Britain. Hitler had to be defeated and that was not going to be achieved by neutral countries.

The Irish government over the years has shamefully snubbed those Irish citizens who served with the British forces in two world wars, perceiving them to be traitors. 

However, I understand attitudes in the South have softened in more recent years and that the part played by veterans is now recognised more openly. 

Attitudes, however, appear to be harder in the North where many Catholics refuse to wear a poppy as it is seen as a British symbol.

Roisin Ni Corrain reminds readers that many Irish died in action (The Irish fought too, November 12). Quite right. 

Shame that there are still people in Ireland who are not prepared to display their respect on Remembrance Day because of their entrenched views.

PATRICK BURKE
EC2