‘Imperialist plot’ theory dishonours Irish soldiers who died at Gallipoli

I’M surprised you allowed Dr Patrick Walsh’s article (March 23) on the Gallipoli campaign to be printed considering the falsehoods it disseminated.

If true historical research is akin to poor farmers cultivating poppy plants, then this concoction of an article seemed to be an anti-British imperialist opiate that blurred and falsified facts to assuage traditional nationalist perspectives. Anti-imperialism is a worthy cause, but to skew facts only blunts legitimate criticism.

It is a dishonour to the Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Gallipoli campaign to portray them as part of imperialist plot, greatly aided by Britain, that duped Turkey into the war with the aim of dismembering it. A properly researched article would have illuminated the complex reasons that bring a country to war and, in most cases, those factors generally are as applicable today as they were then.