Irish voters 'hostile' to poppy symbol

Saw them for sale this morning at the counter at a shop in Wicklow…

The poppy on BBC presenters has gotten noticeably smaller, I think we are thankfully post peak poppy mania on msm. The jingoistic British nationalism originally fuelled by the media was gone feral on social media.

The conversation about critizism in the Republic of Irland of the poppy is bothersome in light that the Republic of Ireland isn't doing enough for defence.

An Air Corps which doesn't have fighter jets and relies on the RAF from the UK to do the job? A Navy with no surface to air capabilities? Claiming to be neutral and it's part of Irish identity but can't defend it?

That's a bit of a bad joke. So let the UK be proud of the poppy appeal and care about their veterans. If the Irish and the government in the Republic aren't up for the job, at least respect Britain doing the job and taking the risk…..

Interesting opinions here. Who exactly is definding the air space of your "neutral" country? A little thank you should be appropriate, I'd say.

Of course irishmen fought in WW2, but soldiers from that war are all dead now, so there is zero reason to give money now to support members of the British Army.

Here we go again. The worls famous Irish "Who would ever attack Ireland?".

How about a fire department without any hoses? Or a police force without any cars? Never any fire in Ireland, as it rains often? No crime either, it's a small island… An air force without fighter jets? Who would ever attack us ! But we are so neutral and we're a rich country now…..

How "dumb" the Brits are with their military and their poppy. Envy? No, we just hate the poppy. Of course we don't hate, we just don't like it and have stupid excuses for not liking it…..

"We"……

The British presence around Ireland was never in our interest.

They funded the re-establishment of the rcc as a bulwark against French style republicanism and even got the then pope to issue a papal bull specifically for Ireland that threatened excommunication on anyone disturbing food exports to Britain while millions starved.

They've cited our EU membership as a threat.

Well if not the UK we will need allies in the EU and/or US in case of a NATO-Russia conflict, and the onus to avoid one is not only on NATO. Given the EUs energy reliance on Russia in 2022, I dont accept the theory that NATO started this conflict. What started it is Putin wants to restore the Russian empire. Its gambling with our independence not to have allies or even to spend anything on defence like Switzerland does. Hitlers generals warned him against invading Switzerland because they were militarily strong.

Also I would remind you that the British presence in the 26 counties came to an end because of force, as well as the 1918 election. The first stopped the physical control of Ireland, but without the moral aspect of the 1918 election, it would have been harder to get international support based on the will of the people. My point is that if we dont want to rely on the UK, we need to invest in our own defence and find other allies.

As someone born in Derry, you'll forgive me for not celebrating the British Army.

I certainly don't see them as my defenders.

I agree that Britain was forced to concede control but the war of independence was the most successful after several failed attempts to evict the English since their total annexation in the 17th century. I won't say the British as the British politican union came to be decades after the English Cromwellian conquest.

Economically and politically Switzerland was a template for the EU, a union made up of different languages and cultures to pool resources for mutual security and welbeing. The UK is adverse to such a mutuality and is culturally estranged from us until such time as they elect to realign.

Ireland's defense posture is in keeping with Swiss neutrality so there's no reason to not support a deeper EU defense pact that replaces NATO, especially in the event of an economic downturn in the US which will see shutter more bases in Europe.

The UK is not defending Ireland - this is a myth. If the UK scramble jets in response to e.g. the Russians, its entirely to protect their own or NATO interests.

Except for military spending. On that issue we are not following the Swiss format. I think we should. Swiss neutrality was only respected in WW2 because it was heavily armed, and the Alps were a formidable defensive barrier. The German surface fleet was too small to supply an army of occupation holding Ireland if they didn't hold Britain.

We especially need a navy. Preventing a landing would prevent an occupation.