The cause of Irish unity has been set back by the Government’s mishandling of the axed RIC commemoration event, the Taoiseach has said.

The cause of Irish unity has been set-back by Charlie Flanagan's mishandling of the axed RIC commemoration event, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Former senator Maurice Manning has said that personally he would prefer to see an academic conference as the means to commemorate the role of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Public outcry has forced Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan to defer his planned commemoration event for the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) later this month.

Calls to boycott the January 17 State commemoration of the RIC have concentrated on the integral role of Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries, recruited mainly from England. Black and Tan recruits began deploying after March 1920, the British officer-based Auxiliary Division some months later.

“It’s amazing. You cross the big hurdles, and when you get to the small ones, you get tripped up.”

The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has announced that the State commemoration of the RIC in Dublin Castle on January 17 has been deferred "given the disappointing response" to it.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the State created "unnecessary controversy" by announcing a commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), which he believes could have been avoided in an "all-inclusive event".

Cllr Niall Kelleher, the Fianna Fáil mayor of Kerry, will not be attending the State commemoration of the RIC in Dublin Castle on January 17, he has confirmed.

A defiant Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Government “stands over its decision” to commemorate members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), saying it is a “shame” some public representatives are boycotting events

Dublin City Councillors have voted not to participate in an upcoming RIC and Dublin Metropolitan Police commemoration event.

The Fianna Fáil Mayor of Clare is to boycott the forthcoming commemoration service for the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), describing the event as "historical revisionism gone too far".

The mayor of Clare has criticised the holding of a commemorative event remembering the Royal Irish Constabulary.

Anybody who wants to find out about a relative’s time in the RIC needs to start with their service record and find the service number, according to Michael Guilfoyle.

One of the most touching moments of the past year’s commemorations happened 100 years to the minute after the first fatality in the Easter 1916 Rising.