The decision to hold the funeral of the 10 IRA volunteers executed during the War of Independence on the same weekend as the Fianna Fail ardfheis was described yesterday as a "distasteful piece of political opportunism".
The leader of the Labour Party, Mr Ruairi Quinn, criticised the timing of the State funeral for Kevin Barry and the nine others, to be held on October 14th.
"It is entirely unacceptable for any one political party to try to appropriate for political means those who died during the War of Independence, yet this is clearly going to happen if the funeral is to be held on the same weekend and in the same city as the Fianna Fail ardfheis." Mr Quinn said it was hardly a coincidence, especially within months of a general election. He wondered if the families concerned were made aware that it was the same weekend, and if the Progressive Democrats gave their consent to the timing.
"I fully support the desire of the families of the dead volunteers to have the bodies removed from the prison grounds and reinterred in consecrated ground. It is also entirely appropriate that the State should mark the occasion in a suitable and dignified way.
"But these men died during the War of Independence, prior to the Truce and the Civil War, and nobody can speculate as to what political position they might subsequently have taken."
He said: "I am now calling on the Taoiseach to show that he wants this to be a State rather than a party-political occasion by changing the proposed date."
Nine of the 10 will be reinterred in Glasnevin Cemetery following Requiem Mass in the Pro-Cathedral on October 14th. The remains of Patrick Maher, will be taken to his home village of Ballylanders, Co Limerick, at the request of his family.