Irish Great War dead to be remembered
Almost 30,000 Irish men and women who died in the First World War will be remembered today on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.
For the first time since 1946, Ireland will play an official role in the UK's main Remembrance Sunday event, when the Irish ambassador to Britain Dan Mulhall will lay a wreath at the London Cenotaph.
The event is the focal point of Britain’s Remembrance Sunday ceremonies and will see the Queen and other senior royals and political leaders also leave floral tributes at the memorial.
Elsewhere, Taoiseach Enda Kenny will take part in an event at the war memorial in Enniskillen, while the Tánaiste Joan Burton will attend a Remembrance service at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, who will also lay a wreath at the Belfast Cenotaph, said it's hugely important to honour the Irish who died in the Great War.
"Over the years we have neglected Irish men and women who lost their lives (in WWI)," Minister Flanagan said.
"Who went to war for various reasons - some out of economic necessity, some for King and country, some in defence of Catholic Belgium, some supporting the advancement of Home Rule in Ireland and some merely with a sense of adventure.
"Over 200,000 Irish men went to war. Almost 30,000 of those died."
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said this year’s Remembrance Sunday was “particularly poignant” as 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the end of Britain’s conflict in Afghanistan.
