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Showing posts from November, 2010

Lest We Forget

Today, I stood as part of a gathered crowd at 11 am on the 11 th day of the 11 th month and paused for a moment's silence. To many of you, this may not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was huge. Before last year, I had never attended a Remembrance Day ceremony. The day, quite frankly meant little. It was an anniversary of an armistice that Ireland had seemingly forgot, from a conflict that Ireland seemed to pretend hadn't happened. The Great War is overshadowed in our history books. Civil War had threatened in Ireland from 1912 through 1914. There was a rebellion in 1916. Our War of Independence began in January 1919. Commemorating the dead of World War I flies in the face of Irish Republican history. World War II is referred to in hushed tones as "the Emergency". Even last year, I did not wear a poppy. For me, it was part of the symbolism of the British army. A proud force, whose people take great pride in it and what it represents. To Irish people