Madam, - It is time to change our collective and individual thinking on this island in relation to the Great War.
The Great War was not a unionist war; the Somme was not a unionist battle. Irishmen, unionist and nationalist, Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter spilled their life's blood in the Allied cause, the Irish cause, the British cause and a myriad of other causes. Whatever the cause, they fought for you and me.
Unionists seem to remember the 36th (Ulster) Division only. The poppy, which is a symbol of remembrance - the charitable donations from which go to disabled veterans and those who have fallen on hard times - became a British symbol, an interpretation not discouraged by many unionists. It is shameful that this is so.
In the Republic an even more shameful record has been achieved. A whole generation was wiped out for us. Never in the annals of human history did a nation intentionally and maliciously write out of history a generation of their own people that fought and died for them.
We may not like some aspects of our history; they may not suit some of our interpretations; but, like it or not, we have shared traditions and shared military traditions on this island and in these islands. It is not time to revise history - it is time to look at the facts. We should be proud and humbled to acknowledge the memory of so many Irish soldiers who sacrificed themselves with the encouragement of Irish politicians for us and for our freedom.
Let us start by supporting the placing of a statue in Waterford to commemorate 14-year-old Private John Condon, the youngest Allied soldier to die in "the war to end all wars". To those minorities who have objected because of their limited capacity to acknowledge their history: please grow up. - Yours, etc.,
Capt DONAL BUCKLEY,
Irish Army (Retd),
Military Heritage Tours,
Castlebar,
Co Mayo.