Redmond’s Folly

The commemorative wall, engraved with the names of over 1,100 Waterford men who died serving with the British Forces in the First World War, should be copied in other Irish cities and towns.

Many, perhaps most, of the men commemorated, shared John Redmond’s delusion that killing Germans, Austrians and Turks would advance the cause of Irish self-government.

I would christen the Waterford wall Redmond’s Folly, and those yet to be erected in Limerick and other places, Fallai Mhic Reamoinn.

I would also have blank walls erected dedicated to the nameless Germans, Austrians and Turks killed by my deluded compatriots in that conflict. After all, what harm did they ever inflict, or intend to inflict, on Ireland?

Donal Kennedy

Palmers Green

London

England