Honouring RIC dead a commemorative step too far
RIC’s primary role in the War of Independence was to defend British interest
Members of the Auxillary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary. This force was first conceived in 1919 as a cadre of British officers supporting the RIC against the IRA
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were the front line of the British government’s war against the IRA between 1919 and 1921. As a result, policemen made up by far the highest number of crown forces’ casualties. More than 400 were killed, almost double the number of army fatalities. British prime minister David Lloyd George had asserted that the conflict in Ireland was “a policeman’s job supported by the military and not vice versa”.
His reasoning was partly ideological, a refusal to accept republican claims to be engaged in a war, but also practical; imperial commitments meant regular troops were needed elsewhere. The poorly equipped IRA targeted the police initially because they possessed arms.