Heroes and villains: have we got them the mixed up?

THE decision by Enniscorthy Town Council to approve the erection of a memorial in the town to commemorate the Edentubber Martyrs is a courageous one which I support.

These five young men were killed when a landmine they were transporting to the border went off prematurely during the border campaign in 1957.

Understandably, the decision has angered some. Colm Lauder, (Letters, January 29), in expressing his disapproval at such a commemoration in Enniscorthy, appears to adopt double standards. I do not recollect any expressions of outrage from Mr Lauder when Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council re-erected the memorial fountain to Queen Victoria in Dún Laoghaire harbour in 2003. Queen Victoria was Ireland’s reigning monarch when more than three million people either died of starvation during a time of abundance or left Ireland in coffin ships to escape destitution. Records of the time clearly show that huge shipments of food were exported to Britain and the empire.