Sir, – According to Carole Molloy, Messrs O’Neill and Keane are employed by ITV where it is the custom for everyone to wear a poppy in Remembrance Week (November 7th). In fact sporting red poppies on ITV (and on BBC and Sky) usually begins at least three weeks prior to Remembrance Sunday and it is more than a mere “custom”. It takes real bravery not to wear a large red poppy when appearing on UK television during the long Remembrance period. It begs the question: when UTV is up and running in Dublin in 2015, what will be the poppy rules?
For some, the red poppy symbol advocates war and for others it advocates remembrance of the war dead. The solution might lie with the white poppy which unambiguously advocates peace. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK O’BYRNE,
Shandon Crescent,
Phibsborough, Dublin 7.