French ambassador to Ireland Vincent Guérend emphasised France and Ireland’s close relationship, along with their shared desire for peace, during a ceremony on Thursday at Glasnevin cemetery.
The occasion, held on France’s Bastille Day, honoured the Irish men and women who fought alongside the French during the War of 1870, the first and second World Wars. This was Mr Guérend’s second time presiding over the event. After his speech thanking the Irish who gave their lives defending France, Mr Guérend laid a wreath at the base of the France-Irish memorial.
“While we celebrate France and French history, we also want to pay tribute to all those who also contributed and fought on the French side in the past wars. And there were so many Irish people who fought on the French side and so it’s the least we can do to honour their contribution, so this is the reason why we laid wreaths at the monument,” said Mr Guérend.
Ambassadors and representatives from Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and United States, along with the French Foreign Legion Association of Ireland and the Royal British Legion of Ireland were in attendance and each laid a wreath at the memorial.
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For the president of the French Foreign Legion Association of Ireland Thomas Sheehan, events like this serve to remember all veterans, both during war and in civilian life. As the only representative of French military veterans in Ireland, he said it is important for legion members to be involved in French traditions.
“For us, it’s very important to remember our veterans … we also work with other veterans’ associations as well because … there’s no politics between us. We are all just veterans and soldiers,” he said.
Afterwards, the crowd walked to the grave of Édouard Cadic, a professor of French and Romance Philology at the National University in Ireland, who was also honoured on Thursday.
The French embassy works with the Glasnevin Trust and historians to select a person to honour each year.
“In addition to all those who fought in uniform, we want to honour other Irish and French who have made a particular contribution. This year it was Prof Caddick,” said Mr Guérend.
Pearse and Joyce
Emeritus professor at University College Cork Grace Neville spoke to the crowd about Cadic’s contributions, which included teaching Patrick Pearse and James Joyce when they were students.
Ms Neville said “Cadic may have been Joyce’s first ever professor of French. Given the importance of French in Joyce’s subsequent life, one may surmise that Cadic left a lasting and positive impression on his young student.”
Cadic was a key organiser of Irish humanitarian aid following the catastrophic floods that devastated Paris in January 1910.
Although the day was about honouring the past, Mr Guérend also took the opportunity to look ahead. Since Brexit, the relationship between Ireland and France has grown closer, he suggested.
Mr Guérend said the two countries plan to work more together, especially in the areas of renewable energy, digital transformation and higher education.