‘The flag is our heart’: Anger simmers among military veterans at Tricolour funeral ban

A row has erupted between Defence Forces veterans and a Monaghan priest over the use of the Tricolour in funeral Masses of deceased military personnel.

It is the practice of Fr Leo Creelman, a curate based in Monaghan town, to refuse permission for the national flag to be draped over the coffin during church funerals for ex-Defence Forces members.

It is understood permission to use the flag during funeral Masses has been denied on several occasions in recent years.

Thirteen overseas tours

The most recent occurrence was last week in advance of the funeral of Denis “Dinny” Barry, who spent 40 years in the Army and completed 13 overseas tours. Permission for the flag to be draped over his coffin in the church was refused by Fr Creelman, as reported on the Joe Finnegan Show on the Northern Sound radio station.

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The funeral went ahead but took place at a local funeral home instead, where Fr Creelman presided over the service.

“People don’t understand what that flag means to us,” said Colm Mahoney, a Defence Forces veteran and chairman of the 29th Battalion Ex-Service Members Association.

He said the association’s members and veteran groups countrywide are “unbelievably” upset over the matter. “The one thing we want is to be buried with the flag.”

Mr Mahoney, a 30-year Army veteran, said when the problem arose previously he had contacted the diocese of Clogher and was assured by the Bishop’s office that the use of the national flag is permitted during funeral Masses for ex-Defence Forces members. “We were told this wouldn’t happen again,” he told The Irish Times.

He said Barry was a deeply religious man and that “the Army meant everything to him”.

Ceremonial guard

The official position of the Defence Forces is to provide a flag and a ceremonial guard for funerals of ex-members once the Adjutant General is notified.

“The flag is our heart,” said veteran Tommy Sheehan, a close friend of Barry’s. He said they first met each other during training in the 1970s. “He carried that flag on his shoulder.”

He added that Barry said before his death that “if his coffin is not allowed in with the flag, the funeral was to be done in the funeral home and then straight to the graveyard”.

Frustration and angst

Mr Sheehan said he can’t “for the life of me” understand the decision not to allow the flag. “I said, ‘lads, if that happens to me, take straight to the furnace’. There’s a great affinity between soldiers and the flag. If a soldier goes to a football match you will never see them wrap the flag around their shoulders.”

It is understood Fr Creelman, who is from Co Derry and was ordained in 2015, has told funeral organisers that if he allows the flag for the funerals of Defence Forces veterans, he will be forced to allow it for non-military funerals, including the funerals of paramilitaries.

Fr Creelman and the Diocese of Clogher have been asked for comment.