Guard of honour: State remembers war dead

IRISH people who died in past wars or on United Nations service were remembered in an annual ceremony in Dublin yesterday.

The National Day of Commemoration was held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham.

President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern attended, as well as members of the Government, the Oireachtas, the judiciary, the diplomatic corps and community representatives from the North.

The President and Taoiseach each inspected a military guard of honour drawn from the 27th Infantry Battalion of the Defence Forces.

Mr Ahern told the audience: “It is fitting that we remember here today all those Irish men and Irish women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations.”

Relatives of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were invited to the ceremony, along with organisations representing retired personnel.

Formal proceedings began with a multi-faith prayer service conducted by members of the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, the Jewish community, the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Islamic community.

President McAleese laid a wreath at the commemorative plaque in the grounds of the Royal Hospital on behalf of the people of Ireland. Following a minute’s silence and the sounding of the Last Post, the national flag was raised to full mast and the national anthem was played by a combined army band drawn from the Southern and Western Commands.

Last weekend, the Government marked the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in the nearby War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge.