Sir, - While I understand the logic behind the reason given by President McAleese for not wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day, I am still disappointed by her decision.
It may be easy to forget, and there are many who would like us to, but thousands of Irishmen of all religions and all political leanings gave their lives in two World Wars to preserve freedom and liberty. The poppy was supposed to be a universal symbol to honor those people. Unionism has not claimed the poppy as a symbol, as many have said during the course of this debate. Rather it is we in the Republic who have, over the years, allowed the symbol to fall into relative disuse for our own narrow, nationalist reasons.
Next year will see the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War. I would hope that, led by our President, all the Irish people on this side of the Border and in Northern Ireland would wear a poppy on November 11th.
In this way the poppy can be reclaimed as a symbol of all people and not that of a political grouping. I can think of no better way to honor the memory of those who sacrificed all for our generations. - Yours, etc.,
Jim Walsh,
Clontarf Road, Dublin 3.