British army's unfair WWI courts martial of Irish soldiers

A report into the courts martial and execution of 26 Irish soldiers by the British army during World War One shows the men were treated unjustly.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said that the findings of the investigation, the first of its kind into the shootings, have been officially submitted to the British Government.

It stems from complaints by historians, and the families of the victims, that military justice ignored evidence of medical afflictions and over-discipline of rank-and-file troops to deter desertions.

Mr Ahern says Irishmen generally appear to have been court martialled disproportionately, as 8% of those executed were Irish, although they made up only 2% of the army’s total numbers.

He went further to say that: “Equally so, there would appear to be a differentiation between the upper and the lower grades.”