Madam, – I'm the author of Spitting on a Soldier's Grave, the book that revealed the story of the 4,983 soldiers who deserted the Irish Army to fight against fascism during the second World War.
After the war the Irish government illegally court-martialled these men, in absentia, without trial or the right of reply, contrary to all the rules of natural justice and the tenets of the Constitution. The government publicly vilified these Irish soldiers for the “crime” of fighting against the Nazis. They even court-martialled the dead men – men such as Joseph Mullally from Co Westmeath, who died on the beaches of Normandy liberating Europe on June 6th, 1944.
Now, Peter Mulvany has started a public campaign to have these men pardoned. A petition will be launched outside Dáil Éireann at noon on June 30th.
The so-called deserters fought in the bloodiest war in modern history, to secure the freedoms and democratic rights that we enjoy today. There are only a very few of these brave men left alive now. They ask nothing of us except to be allowed to live the final few years of their lives, honourably, free from the stigma of the court- martial.
I would ask your readers to repay them now by signing the petition and writing to An Taoiseach to voice their support. – Yours, etc,