The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan T.D., will today attend a special ceremony in the Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge, to commemorate the Irish born men and women who served and gave their lives in World War I and World War II. This commemoration is led by the Royal British Legion Republic of Ireland Branch, with support and assistance from the State. Minister Madigan will lay a wreath during the ceremony on behalf of the Government.
Minister Madigan said today:
It is a great honour for me to represent the Government at this ceremony in remembrance of the men and women from the island of Ireland who served and gave their lives in World War I and World War II.
The outbreak of war in 1914, and the four years of fighting that followed, transformed people's everyday lives and affected almost every community in Ireland. Many young men and women never returned from the battlefields, leaving countless families to grieve their loss. Of those who did return, many suffered life altering physical injuries and the psychological scars of their experiences of the trenches and bombardment.
The experiences of the Irish men and women who served during World War I were, until recently, often confined to the shadows and ignored. Over the past four years, significant State commemorative activities have taken place at home and abroad to mark the key events in World War I, culminating in the signing of the Armistice on 11th November 1918 that ended the fighting.
The Irish National War Memorial Gardens - our national monument commemorating the Irish soldiers who died in World War I – is a fitting place of remembrance and reflection where we can explore, with a mature and respectful understanding, the complex and sensitive narratives surrounding the Irish participation in World War I.
My constant priority in leading the Government's Decade of Centenaries commemorative programme is to promote a greater acceptance of the differing perspectives in our shared history, through inclusive commemorations that seek to strengthen peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.