Poppycock: We already honour those who died in both wars

Taoiseach Micheal Martin during the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen. PA Photo. 

Each year as we approach November 11 Irish society is forced to endure divisive controversy concerning Armistice Day, poppy wearing, and the commemoration of the thousands of Irish who died serving with British forces during the Great War.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin added to the yearly controversary by wearing an “Irish poppy” during the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen. Micheál Martin cannot but be aware of the symbolism of the poppy here in Ireland which has a political subtext, functioning not just as a symbol of Remembrance but as a veiled propagandist attack on separatist Irish nationhood.