Madam, – When, at the annual 1916 commemoration Mass in Arbour Hill, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin commemorated those who gave their lives in the 1916 Rising (Home News, May 4th), did he include all the dead on both sides of the fight? Surely he must not have left out in his sermon the memory of both Catholic and Protestant members of the RIC and British army who also gave their lives? Not only should he have commemorated them but he should also have had a special mention of the innocent civilians of Dublin caught up in the Rising. These bystanders did not suspect they were going to be injured or worse in the crossfire that shattered the peace of their Easter.
Surely Archbishop Martin should know that achieving things if at all possible by peaceful means is one of the primary teachings of the Catholic Church? – Yours, etc,