CIARAN McCOURT,
Sir, - It may seem churlish to criticise the service for the National Day of Commemoration held at Kilmainham on July 14th, but I believe the occasion, dignified though it is, represents a lost opportunity for the people of Ireland to really honour the war dead for themselves.
The Kilmainham location is inappropriate, as the atmosphere is hermetically sealed from the people for whom it purports to represent. There are few enough dignified occasions in the national calendar for the people to enjoy with awe (even undignified ones are excluded from the city centre, it seems).
The magnificence of the French Bastille Day celebrations and the jubilee celebrations in the UK must surely awaken some minds among the powers that be to ask simply: why not let the people in?
The same service in College Green, with public access and an appropriate memorial for those who died would enrich our national life much more, foster pride in our armed forces and allow us to feel the real emotion such an occasion should inspire. - Yours, etc.,
CIARAN McCOURT, Dartry Park, Dublin 6.