No pardon for Irish deserters

Despite the Northern Assembly adding its unanimous voice to calls for the Government to issue both a pardon and an apology to the 5,700 Irish soldiers who deserted their posts during World War II and joined the British Army, the Government must remain resolute and refuse.

While recognising and acknowledging the significant contribution and sacrifice these men made in opposing Nazism, they nonetheless had deserted their posts at a time of national emergency in Ireland.

The offence of desertion is a crime under military law in every army in the world, including the British Army which itself had executed in excess of 300 deserters (28 of them Irish) during the Great War, and pursued relentlessly those who had deserted during the Second World War. Those who deserted the British Army were subject to court martial and imprisonment, yet the Irish government is being asked to apply different standards to those who deserted the Irish army.