Sir - The contribution of the Irish to the ceremonial events surrounding the death of the Queen Mother was significant. At the very heart was a contingent from the Irish Guards who acted as pall-bearers, a party which included two Dubliners and 18-year-old Robert Fleming from Ballyclare, Co Antrim.
The pipes and drums of the Irish Guards and the Royal Irish Regiment were among those preceding the gun-carriage and an Irish lament was played as the coffin emerged from Westminster Abbey after the service.
Northern unionists often find themselves tussling with the question, "Why do I feel British, as well as Irish?" Part of the answer lies in pride in the history of service and excellence in the military. The funeral, like that of Princess Diana, was an event which no other country in the world would have been capable of staging, and one which in simple terms made millions thoughout the British Isles feel a certain pride. On Tuesday Kevin Myers wrote an enlightening Irishman's Diary on the disbandment of a number of Irish Regiments in 1922 and the subsequent attempt to air-brush them out of Irish history. It was therefore somewhat disappointing that The Irish Times's report of the funeral made no mention of the contribution by soldiers from the Irish Regiments and that the report itself was relegated to page eight. - Yours, etc.,
M.J. CAIRNS,
Gilnahirk,
Co Down.
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Sir, - Cllr Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin (April 11th) expresses concern for the hurt caused to victims of British forces by flying the Tricolour at half mast on the day of the recent royal funeral.
I have three words to say to CllrCarthy: pot, kettle, black. - Yours etc., DAVID WILKINS,
North Great George's Street,
Dublin 1.