A very grave affair
The desecrated graves, all of which were of republicans, included those of the Lord Mayor of Cork Tomás MacCurtain who was murdered in 1920 and General Tom Barry. The fact that this attack was perpetrated just two days prior to commemorations marking the 97th anniversary of the Easter Rising of 1916 adds a sinister element. Some national newspapers did not even report this vile incident.
If an attack of this nature had been perpetrated on the Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, which honours the memory of those Irish who gave their lives in the Great War, just hours before Armistice Day commemorations there would, rightly, be public outrage and it would undoubtedly draw strong comment from parliament, pulpit and publications. Why the double standards?
