Yes its that time again and the yearly discussion on the topic is now something of an annual tradition here on Boards. The focus of the commemoration this year will centre on the First World War to mark the centenary of the outbreak, although all those who died in all wars will be remembered.
No doubt the usual thanks whoring will come in the posts that follow with ccomments like 'oh for fcuk's sake, not again' or I am disappoint OP, I was hoping for a thread on heroin cultivation.
These are often followed by comments from the
true gael 800 years of misery and woe brigade who try and convince us that anyone who remembers the war dead of 1914-18 must be a traitor who cannot possibly be a true Irish person.
Thankfully however, for a good part of previous threads, there are many comments that recognise the sacrifice and loss of almost 50,000 Irish men and women in the Great War.
This year's commemoration has added signifigance for Ireland as the
Irish Ambassador will for the first time, lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on our behalf. This follows a visit late last year by An Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister as equals to the war graves of Irishmen and Britishmen in Flanders and their attendance at the nightly Last Post Ceremony at the
Menin Gate.
Following the state visit by President Higgins to the UK earlier this year, ties between the two nations have never been closer and there is now an undoubted acceptance and reognintion of the losses of Irish men and women by governments and people on both sides of the Irish Sea.
For decades wearing the poppy was seen as a badge of shame and treachery in Ireland, but this wasn't always the case. Back in the 1920's after independence many thousands attended parades and ceremonies here to remember those who died for them less than a deade before. In 1926 some 40,000 people gathered in the Phoenix Park to pay their respect. More on that
here.
Nobody expects or demands a return to such high profile displays of commemoration in 2014 Ireland and I suspect that those who lost their lives in WWI wouldn't want such fuss either. All they would ask, whether you wear a poppy or not, is that you take a brief moment on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - to remember them.
