UK government invites ambassador to honour thousands of Irish who fought and died in Britain’s armed forces in two world wars

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Irish government has been asked to lay a wreath at London’s Cenotaph on Remembrance Day for the first time.

In a sign of improving Anglo-Irish relations, the Republic of Ireland’s ambassador to the UK, Dan Mulhall, will officially attend the main remembrance ceremony next month.

Mulhall’s presence at Whitehall will be in honour of the thousands of Irishmen who fought and died in Britain’s armed forces in both world wars.

Sajid Javid, the UK’s secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said: “Throughout the first world war, Irish servicemen stood side by side with men and women from across Great Britain and the Commonwealth.

“As we commemorate the centenary of the start of the war, it is right we remember our nations’ shared sacrifice.”

Ireland’s ambassador said he was pleased to accept the invitation to join the Queen and other dignitaries on 9 November.

Mulhall added: “The invitation arose following the successful reciprocal state visits of recent years and also in the context of other events which have taken place around the first world war, as part of the government’s decade of commemorations programme, marking significant centenaries.”

About 200,000 Irish-born soldiers served in the first world war, though many returned home to a society at war with the British. After the Irish Free State was formed in 1922, and through subsequent decades, many of the survivors were shunned and their sacrifices written out of the country’s official narrative.

Despite official hostility, thousands more Irish people volunteered to join the British armed forces in the second world war even though the free state was neutral in the struggle against Nazi Germany.

In July, Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, paid tribute to Irish soldiers who were killed in both world wars.

Meanwhile, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) – Ireland’s leading sporting body, which has historic links to cultural Irish nationalism – has also recognised the role of its members who fought and died in Britain’s war efforts. The GAA has launched a project to trace players and members of the organisation who fought in the first world war.

The Ulster Council of the GAA has found that among 20 members of one Belfast GAA club, the majority of the players ended up in the trenches on the western front. They included William Manning, a Belfast man who played for Antrim in the 1912 all-Ireland football final. He was shot dead in 1918 while serving in France as a lance-sergeant with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.