Events commemorate all who died in war

PRESIDENT MARY McAleese yesterday attended an ecumenical service of remembrance and reconciliation organised by the Royal British…

PRESIDENT MARY McAleese yesterday attended an ecumenical service of remembrance and reconciliation organised by the Royal British Legion in St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.

The service was one of a number of events held around the country and across the world to commemorate all those who have lost their lives in war.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen was represented by his Aide de Camp Captain Michael Treacy at ceremonies in Thurles, Co Tipperary, which marked 50 years of participation in the UN Peace Mission overseas.

After Mass in Thurles Cathedral, there was a parade to St Mary's Garden of Remembrance where a roll of honour of all Thurles men killed in the first World War was read by memorial committee chairman John Wort.

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Former defence minister Michael Smith paid tribute to the "great professionalism and extraordinary commitment and ability of the 57,000 Irish UN soldiers who had served overseas for the past 50 years in places such as the Congo, Eritrea and Liberia".

In Cork a concert was held on Saturday night to honour the 2,600 Cork men who died in battle in the first World War.

In Limerick the Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea attended the Royal British Legion's annual remembrance ceremony at the War Memorial in Pery Square, while in Belfast about 1,000 people attended remembrance ceremonies and laid wreaths at the Cenotaph at Belfast City Hall.

In Britain, Queen Elizabeth attended a Remembrance Sunday ceremony along with prime minister Gordon Brown and other political leaders. Afterwards, the queen laid a wreath at the Cenotaph Memorial in Whitehall, central London.

Remembrance services were also held in France, Germany, Canada and the United States.

In the Vatican, Pope Benedict voiced his pain over the night 70 years ago when the Nazis whipped up anti-Jewish riots during the Kristallnacht pogrom.

"Still today I feel pain over what happened in those tragic events, whose memory must serve to ensure such horrors are never repeated and that we strive, on every level, against all forms of anti-Semitism and discrimination . . ." he said.

Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day, particularly in Britain, is known as Armistice Day in France and Veterans Day in the US.

While it is now marked for the commemoration of all war dead, it was initially held on November 7th, 1919, to commemorate those who died in the first World War. It is now observed on November 11th to recall the end of that war on that date in 1918. Remembrance Sunday services are held on the nearest Sunday to the anniversary.

Some 49,400 Irish men are known to have been killed in the first World War.