Madam, - I was very privileged to be invited to attend the first official commemoration ceremony for all Irishmen who died on the battle of the Somme and throughout the first World War. It was altogether a very moving and unifying occasion which embraced all traditions and allegiances on this island.
My own family link to the events of that troubled period in Ireland and Europe is personified in the life and death of my "Uncle Mick", after whom I was named. Like so many other young men at the time, he enlisted in the British Army in 1914 and served for some time in the Great War before returning home to join Oglaigh na hÉireann after 1916. He was one of the first volunteers in North Tipperary to be killed in action in July 1920.
Some years ago I visited the battlefields of the Somme with Glenn Barr and my former Oireachtas colleague Paddy Harte. The monument at Messines is a tribute to their determination to remind us in this generation of our shared inheritance through the suffering and sacrifice of those who died in "the war to end all wars".
My dear old friend and former Teachta Dála Pat Cummins, whose family also served in the Great War, expressed it simply and beautifully: "They were all Irishmen and we love them".
Let us honour and respect all who died in those sad days through the Great War, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War. We who now live in an era of peace and prosperity should build our monumentum aere perennius to their noble souls by working in harmony for the good of all Irish men and women, north and south. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O'KENNEDY SC, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Madam, - I was most impressed by your coverage of the Somme commemorations over last weekend. It was an important moment in the healing of memories both in Ireland and between Britain and Ireland. However, comparing the reporting of the event in the two countries it was not difficult to see how much ground there still is to cover before the wounds of the past are truly healed.
Here in the UK we think of ourselves as a union of four nations - the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish - so a "British" commemoration covers you as well. In Ireland of course, you see it differently, so that if Prince Charles did not mention Ireland specifically when he spoke at Thiepval, you feel hurt and left out. This is the difference of perception which needs to be addressed.
Personally, I would hope that more Irish people could come to see that it is possible to be both British and Irish, to our mutual benefit. But as the Good Friday agreement put it, this is for the people of Ireland to decide, and until they do, we shall have to go on living with these apparent incompatibilities and hurting (on both sides) accordingly. - Yours, etc,
GERALD BRAY, Cambridge, England.
Madam, - The Somme commemoration in Dublin last Saturday was a dignified, significant and highly symbolic occasion. While the prayer offered by the Head Chaplain was entirely appropriate, it seemed very strange that no representative of the reformed churches was asked to participate by way of a scripture reading, a prayer or a blessing. This seems out of harmony with the regular practice of State-organised occasions such as the National Day of Commemoration.
It was an unfortunate omission, considering the ground-breaking nature of the event, as it affects sensitivities in North-South, Irish-English and British Isles-international relationships. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT DUNLOP, Brannockstown, Co Kildare.