Sir, - I read with interest letters (October 18th) referring to the standard of the ceremonial duties carried out by members of the Defence Forces last Sunday week. M.M. Ireland must not have had the benefit of military experience and missed a lot of the mistakes. However, I will not be as critical as John Ballantine and Niall Ginty. The fact is the parade was often out of step, and I watched in mild amusement as the ripple of changing step took place on several occasions.
If this had happened during the changing of the guard or trooping of the colour in Britain those troops would have been marched straight to the guardroom!
Then what really made me laugh was the sight of the firing party wearing large amplivox-type ear defenders. I presume this was to stop these soldiers suing the State at some stage in the future for loss of hearing! The small plug-in ear defenders would have been sufficient in order to fire a couple of blank rounds. Maybe this was a public display of the Defence Forces' new equipment, the lack of which previously has cost the taxpayer a small fortune! The irony wasn't lost on me and I'm sure I wasn't the only one having a giggle.
Most people can remember the sight of the Royal Air Force carrying Princess Diana's coffin off the plane. These ceremonial duties were carried out at short notice with military precision. Britain has dedicated units for public duties which also rotate through operational tours of duty. Surely the Irish Army, with the notice that it had for this event, could have done better. - Yours, etc.,
Tim McAlpin, Croydon Terrace, Dublin 3.