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07/05/2013
Apology And Pardon For 'Deserters'
Some 5,000 soldiers, once branded deserters, will be offered an official apology this afternoon in the Dáil, alongside a formal pardon.
The so-called deserters had joined British forces in the fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
According to the Irish Time, some 60,000 Irish people, both men and women, left Irelands Defence Forces to join the fight against Nazism.
In 1949 legislation was passed that resulted in these people being considered deserters, who were subsequently dismissed from the Defence Forces without pension and barred from receiving State employment and welfare.
Mr Shatter, who will deliver the apology, said their contribution to the fight against Nazi advancement was “airbrushed out of history”.
Adding that it if Germany had invaded Britain then “Ireland was next on the list” and all those who had left Ireland to fight alongside British forces had done so to protect Ireland’s sovereignty and independence.
(H/CD)
The so-called deserters had joined British forces in the fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
According to the Irish Time, some 60,000 Irish people, both men and women, left Irelands Defence Forces to join the fight against Nazism.
In 1949 legislation was passed that resulted in these people being considered deserters, who were subsequently dismissed from the Defence Forces without pension and barred from receiving State employment and welfare.
Mr Shatter, who will deliver the apology, said their contribution to the fight against Nazi advancement was “airbrushed out of history”.
Adding that it if Germany had invaded Britain then “Ireland was next on the list” and all those who had left Ireland to fight alongside British forces had done so to protect Ireland’s sovereignty and independence.
(H/CD)
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