D-Day event sheds light on our tragic divisions
At the same time we were reminded of the Irish heroes who still remain in the land where they fell.
No country surely should feel ashamed of such men, and by their action in joining such regiments as the Royal Ulster Rifles they must also have made a contribution to strengthening the bonds of friendship between Irishmen on this island.
Like you, I believe a great opportunity was missed for some official acknowledgment of so notable an occasion, and these are opportunities that we must be eager to grasp if our aspiration for peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland is ever to be realised.
In this context I note with pleasure President McAleese's second visit to Messines this week and her honouring the memory of Francis Ledwidge.
The recognition of our great Irish poet of WWI in such a context is long overdue but greatly to be welcomed.
I do not believe that Ireland has anything to fear from recalling the memory of such men (and the thousands like them). Indeed, the more we learn of the Irish contribution in two world wars the more reason we have to be proud and to lament our present divisions.
Gerald Morgan,
School of English,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.
