Sir, - M.M.Ireland believes the State funerals "did the Volunteers proud" (October 18th). However, perhaps at a time when events in the North are on a knife's edge, we should pause to consider the signal such funerals give out. Moderate unionists, who would favour a form of Home Rule within the UK, have said to me that they find the timing insensitive and are puzzled why the event was not postponed.
It is also worth reminding ourselves that the Irish Volunteers were deeply sectarian, including Kevin Barry who attacked a Church of Ireland rectory in Co Carlow. The clergyman defended himself by firing his shotgun from his bedroom window and was fired on by Barry and his friends, who threatened to catch him unawares later.
On April 27th-28th 1922, Irish Volunteers shot dead 10 unarmed civilian Protestants in west Cork, including a Church of Ireland curate on the steps of the rectory. This led to panic and a massive flight of Protestants.
The historian Peter Hart has summed up what happened in the Protestant experience of revolution in southern Ireland He writes that the collapse of the Protestant community was "unique in modern British history, being the only example of the mass displacement of a native ethnic group within the British Isles since the 17th century".
The political classes, including our President, were stating on October 14th that this country is still not serious about becoming inclusive. It was Carndinal Daly who held out a hand to those who suffered on "the other side". Sadly, Bertie Ahern's speech was preoccupied with defending the violence of the Volunteers. However, it seems his real agenda is to win votes from Sinn FΘin in poor urban areas such as west Tallaght. By following this backward agenda, the government pays lip service to the spirit of the Belfast Agreement. - Yours, etc.,
R. Bury, Military Road, Killiney, Co Dublin.