King or kaiser, we serve neither

I am in agreement with Donal Kennedy’s letter of June 26 — "Ireland should not honour warmongers", as I believe this to be very true of the First World War celebrations. All of the most advanced and progressive thinkers internationally opposed the First World War bitterly.

For whose benefit was the First World War fought but the rich and powerful of Europe, and it was more than a tragedy that so many Irishmen died serving the British Empire which had carried out genocide during the Famine.

In a strange way it is ‘back to the future’ now as regards ‘official Ireland’ fully supporting and kowtowing to the British monarchy while unemployment and poverty stalk the land.

Will another James Connolly step forward to tell us that “we serve neither king nor kaiser but Ireland”? Will Pearse’s words echo again: “The defenders of this Realm have worked well in secret and in the open. They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools ! — they have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”

Mark Duggan

Amiens St

Dublin 1