Royal prefix undermines State’s separatist ethos

A conference on the disastrous effects which the Curragh Mutiny, or ‘incident’ as it became known, of 1914 had on British army discipline was held recently at the Curragh army camp, which is today the headquarters of the Irish Defence Forces.

The conference was attended by Irish and British historians and it emerged that 58 British Army officers threatening to mutiny, might be given the option of resigning their commissions or even accept dismissal rather than be sent north to coerce Ulster to accept Home Rule.

A century later a second Curragh ‘incident’ occurred and again the government, albeit an Irish government, failed to defend the ethos and values of the state.