Kate Middleton and Prince William present shamrocks to Irish Guards for St. Patrick’s Day - VIDEO

Seanmor: a man's religious beliefs are his own business, so I'll leave you to your own devices as regards the statues. The point is this-any country's armed forces take an oath of loyalty to the state. This goes with the territory. There is absolutely nothing which prevents Ulster Protestants from playing a role in the southern state. Case in point - the majority of Irish-born recruits in the Irish Guards are of that stock. Every year for the guts of about half a decade now, the Irish government has been staging military commemorations which, in theory, honour Irish dead, but in practice, the unspoken emphasis is on those who served in British uniform. Ergo, even though neither the Irish state, nor any of the institutions which come under its remit, represents the unionist tradition (even though there's one or two of them on the Council of State), it has reached out to them consistently over the years. They can't complain about how they've been treated. Why should the Irish government represent a different tradition from the one on which their own country was built? It won't make a difference. Such a hand will be bitten by those it feeds. Being as you are a former Marine, I'll put this to you. Whenever a citizen of the Republic dies fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq, his/her name will be all over the paper if he/she is with the UK services. However, if it's the US, they only get a footnote. Monaghan-born former US Army Major Bernard Shevlin died of complications due to injuries he received in the Middle East whilst in his home in Massachusetts. One small paragraph in the Irish Times was all he got. Compare that with the front page coverage of Ranger Michael Malone, a West Cork man from the Royal Irish in every major publication. É sin ráite, cuireann sé gliondar croí orm gur bhain tú úsáid as an nGaeilge i do theachtaireacht, agus chun ómós a thabhairt don tseirbhís a rinne tú ar son JFK, ba mhaith liom 'SEMPER FI' a rá.

I REALLY ADMIRE HOW THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THE IRISH GUARDS EVERY ST PATRICKS DAY .. I LOVE THIS COUPLE.. THEY EXUDE CLASS AND HAVE A NICE VIBE ABOUT THEM.. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE IRISH VISIT NEXT YEAR AND YES PLEASE COME DOWN TO THE ENGLISH MARKET IN CORK AGAIN AS ITS STILL BOOMING SINCE THE QUEENS VISIT BACK IN 2011....

Mercenary: I don't think it is correct to call the force that's under the contlol of Dáil Éireann of the "irish" Army; in order for any organization to be truly Irish, it must represent the whole Irish nation (an náisiún uile agus gach roinn di). I should also mention that conscription was NOT applied to the 'Ulster' state in w w 11. I wouldn't describee the primary education I received as "bad", especially when it came to religious instruction. But I wish I had learned about the Weeping Irish Madonna that shed tears of blod during mass in the crowded cathedral in Gyor, Hungary, on 17 March, 1697, shorty after the Treaty of Limerick had been violated by the enactment of a new set of penal laws. Finally, as a military history buff, you have have at least a slight interest in knoweing that as a 'greenhorn' in 1960, I joined the U.S. Marine Corps and honorably served 4 years, most it under Commandeer-in Chief John Fitgerald Kennedy.

To Seanmor-I'm a military history buff, and I've nothing for or against any Irishman who goes into the British army. That being said, I've two points to make: (1) It can't be said that the Irish Army (superb force that they are) discriminates against any tradition (real or imagined) on this island. The reason why people from a Unionist background would not join such a force is because it would involve an oath to the Republic of Ireland. Unless the lot of them became a bunch of Henry Joy McCrackens over night, this is something which just wouldn't happen. (2) The Irish have served in countless foreign armies since 1585. Most Irish people are clueless about this. Many of our fellow countrymen get slagged off for marching under the Union Jack, but the Irish who have fought for France, the US, Venezuela (yes that's right) are virtually forgotten. Don't blame it on Anglophobia (which doesn't really exist). Blame it on a bad education system which doesn't teach Irish children about the achievements of the country they live in, because to do so would destroy our inferiority complex. Nice talking to you!

How do they pull their forelocks with those short haircuts?

Why are all the officers of the Irish Guards English, and all the NCOs either Welsh, Scottish or Ulster-Scot Calvinists? Do Irishmen only qualify as Guardsmen? Looks like the only one there truly Irish was the wolfhound. Mind you, behind HRHs 'sprig' of shamrock is the Saint Patrick's Cross cap badge of the regiment, looking all fine and dandy out from betwixt and between the other two crosses of the UJ. Has anybody told those guys that they've got dead bears squatting on their heads. I believe it was to make them look taller to frighten impressionable African natives. Still, don't knock it if you haven't tried it is my motto. Let's not be churlish. Good looking couple. Here's to a "a partnership of equals" (HM EIIR, Dublin, 2011) between the British and/or Irish Isles, and their exertion of influence upon their respective mainland.

Seanmor - strange indeed. My grand uncle was killed in WW1 (Somme) and he was also a Michael Dee (Limerick).

There is no doubt that many an English victory was due in part to the Irish who fought in the English ranks. What percentage of Wellington's troops were Irish!!!! Indeed those who fought in the first and second world war need to be commended, but it is about time the English Govenment apologised to the generations of Irishmen who served in the British Armay and were treated as second class citizens when their bravery gave England so much. If I remember correctly it was Charles the Second who got it correctly when he wondered what laws caused his to lose such brave subjects as the Irish---a bit of decency all round would have gone a long way.

The Irish Guards includes men from ALL parts of IRELAND and of all political and religious persuasions. (To my knowledge, there is NO such unit in the army of the Southern Irish State). The Irish Guards won 2 Victoria Crosses in the Great War and 2 more in World War 11. A nighboring family in the place where I grew up lost a brother, Mickey Dee, while serving with the Irish Guards in October, 1944.