MBE for Dubliner who collects war histories

A Dublin man who has spent the past decade collecting stories of Irish people who fought in the first World War has been awarded an honorary MBE by Queen Elizabeth.

Mr Tom Burke, who founded the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association in 1995, after a chance encounter with a war veteran in Dublin, received the honour for the "significant contribution" the association had made to British-Irish relations.

As well as organising exhibitions and events highlighting the Irish involvement in the war, the association has met republican and loyalist groups in the North to explore aspects of their shared heritage.

Mr Burke said he had no interest in the first World War until he came across an elderly neighbour in Killester, Dublin, who told him about his experiences fighting for the British army.

"He took out a shoebox with his medals in it and he broke down crying. When someone that age breaks down and then thanks you, because it's the first time in his life he has been asked to talk about these things, it sticks with you. It lit a light."

Mr Burke said the fact that he had "no baggage" meant people were more willing to discuss the issue with him.

However, he recalled meeting one Northern loyalist who told him: "You guys have the Famine, leave us the Somme." That sort of mentality had to be broken down and exposed.

The association (www.greatwar.ie) now has 400 members and runs trips for schoolchildren to the battlefields of France.

An engineer and avid GAA fan, Mr Burke said he accepted the award "with the grace in which it had been offered. "I'll wear it with my old hurling medals," he added with a smile.