Sir, – I share Kevin Myers's concern about the commonly accepted estimate of 49,000 Irish casualties in the first World War (January 20th).
The real problem with this statistic is that includes only military deaths and excludes civilian deaths.
It is perhaps no coincidence that civilian deaths of past and current wars are not included in these kinds of “memorial rolls”. We do not have “a tomb of the unknown baby”. There are no parades, no monuments, no online projects to commemorate the innocent victims of wars.
Who profits? Perhaps the only “memorial roll” truly worthy of the war dead is the one that we write in our hearts that simply says: “No more war . . . Neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for all the kingdoms of the world” . – Yours, etc,
DERMOT A QUIRK,
(A Quaker),
Churchtown,
Broadway,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – Regarding Gavin Lloyd's comments concerning the Irish who have served, and who continue serving, outside the Irish Defence Forces down the years (January 15th), Irish Veterans Historical Research Centre Ltd, better known as Irish Veterans, was established several years ago to address this very issue. Over the past few years, we've been slowly building up an archive of Irish men and women who have seen service around the globe, in many conflicts and none, and sadly, those who have lost their lives on that service.
Recently, we opened up for membership, and this “trickle income” helps keep the project alive. Irish Veterans is largely kept on the road through the support of its directors and, to date, the voluntary nature of the work undertaken (irishveteransmemorialproject.com ). – Yours, etc,
DECLAN HUGHES,
Irish Veterans,
Capel Chambers,
Capel Street, Dublin 1.