Sir, - I think that Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fβil government has sunk to the very lowest in politics when, for cheap political purposes, it digs up the bodies of 10 men who died in the War of Independence to re-bury them again with pomp and pageant at Glasnevin Cemetery, and all this for the sake of trying to be more greener and more republican than Sinn FΘin and get more votes in the next general election. This is truly the pits.
This should have been done many years ago in the early years of the foundation of the Irish State, when the founding fathers of the nation were alive, and not now so that Bertie Ahern's party can pull a cheap gimmick to stay in office. I am surprised that the main churches in Ireland let the ruling politicians get away with this as it has nothing to do with honouring the dead but more with the votes of the living.
The revolution and Civil War left many painful memories for most Irish families and now that we are coming out of 30 years of the Troubles of Northern Ireland, we need ceremonies and events that will bring healing, rather than opening old wounds that have taken generations to heal. - Yours, etc.,
Martin Ford, St Anne's Terrace, Sligo.