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People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Poppy fascism used against Irish leaders in politics and sport -- No reason to glorify horrific deaths in World War I

Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 07:18 AM

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Irish leader Enda Kenny made the decision not to wear a Remembrance Day poppy

I see Irish leader Enda Kenny, Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, rugby star Brian O’Driscoll, and soccer star James McClean have all been attacked for not wearing the poppy on Remembrance Day.

That is poppy fascism at its finest.

John Snow, the distinguished British commentator, refuses to wear a poppy for that very reason, as he rails against the Poppy fanatics who regard not wearing one in honor of Britain’s war dead as close to treason.

I’ll wear my own poppy when the British wear an Easter Lily remembering the Easter Rising of 1916 dead – that is it, pure and simple.

The First World War was a complete abomination, a blood filled massacre on a thousand battlefields that left millions dead and ravaged and led to the even bloodier Second World War conflict.

Thirty seven million died including 8 million soldiers in the bloodiest war in history to that point – and we are supposed to celebrate that?

Beside that, Patrick Pearse’s 1916 Rebellion with 446 killed was like a rounding error for the First World War casualties.

Read more: Enda Kenny and sports stars Brian O’Driscoll and James McClean criticised over Poppy Day snub

On a point of principle I would not want to commemorate it, no more than I would the Vietnam War here which I regard as the closing kick of American paranoia about communism in Southeast Asia.

Very few wars are just, as the churches and your common sense will tell you, and World War One, which has its origins in a series of utterly obscure events in the Balkans, will never be in that category.

Of course there were brave men who fought in it and died, lions led by donkeys as the Ulster Volunteers called it, but that does not excuse its utter uselessness.

For any Irish leader to wear the poppy would be to ennoble that dreadful struggle where the upper class Brits sent millions of working-class men to their deaths.

No way say I that it should be remembered and treated as some kind of antiseptic heroic deed from long ago.

The men who died so needlessly would surely not want it so.

So count me out poppy fascists -- unless you wear the Easter Lily too.

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Strongbow | Nov 13, 2012, 11:04 PM EST

Since when is the poppy a celebration of war? No more than flowers on a grave are a celebration of death. Can you not just let other cultures and nations have their own traditions? Or are their culture, history and traditions somehow illegitimate until and when they acknowledge and stand in awe at your cherished culture and traditions etc. One could forward an argument that the rebels of 1916 were a band of fascists who fanned out to impose their theocratic and xenophobic vision on a populace and succeeded to a great extent. To digress a little, to characterize US intervention in Southeast Asia as a result of paranoia is naive in the extreme.

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KatieKazoo | Nov 13, 2012, 09:01 PM EST

Surely they can come up with a world wide mourning symbol for all soldiers lost in war. People fighting courageously for 'right', or their perception of it. (Including 'guerrilla' soldiers). Maybe, though, a symbol of peace would show we learnt something from it all. But poppies? Well I think they are synonymous with British soldiers. Irish men may have fought as British soldiers, but it isn't on for us, or our Prime Minister to wear one. It would be like Americans or their Prime Minister wearing the Russian Eagle. Or the Apprentice boys going to Mass.

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barneyjo | Nov 13, 2012, 08:07 PM EST

Its well documented that up until the 1960s the most successful branch of the Royal British Legion outside of London for raising money from the sale of the Poppy was.......DUBLIN!! That was of course until the IRA put them out of business. Of course it is a mark of maturity that the Irish Nation can now acknowledge that many thousands of Irishmen wore a British Uniform in both world wars during the 20th century. the youngest winner of the Victoria Cross in WW1 was a a boy soldier from Cork who was a catholic. The only winner of the Victoria Cross from the North during WW2 was a catholic from Belfast (McGuinness was his name) I was in county Donegal at the weekend and saw any number of people wearing the poppy, and guess what, the sky didnt fall in on anyone. Successive Sinn Fein Mayors of Belfast have laid wreaths on the war memorial at Belfast City hall, and in all cases, had relatives who fought and died in a British Uniform. Live and let live and leave the fascism aside.

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DanOLoingsigh | Nov 13, 2012, 06:47 PM EST

Wear a poppy, don't wear a poppy...your choice...funds go to ex-soldiers welfare; that's what it means in 2012...

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KevinKehoe | Nov 13, 2012, 06:35 PM EST

If I was to put one of those poppy-weeds on my person, my ancestors would surly rise-up and haunt me forever and rightly so. That weed is a reassuring symbol to the British elite and Imperialism that the serfs will blindly go off to foreign fields to kill and be killed in vast numbers yet again. By all means remember and honor those brave souls who were butchered in there millions at the behest of there lying masters and also remember the poor souls, many Irish among them who were lined up and shot to death because of shel-shock illness,desertion or simply not wanting to kill anymore, or some pompous a-s didn’t like him, all well documented. The poppy symbolizes Imperialism at its very worst and by wearing one endorses the wrongs done by mankind to his fellow man. The Lily however is a flower of beauty and symbolizes the opposite of Imperialism.

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seanomelb | Nov 13, 2012, 04:58 PM EST

ToryTory naming some posters as on this site as bigots is an oxymoron. His bleeding heart support of anything British underlies his hypocrisy. Roberts got it right and wounded knee makes a fair point and pilib04 is correct it represents colonialism and imperialism.

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MichaelJTully | Nov 13, 2012, 04:58 PM EST

First class opinion, fair play to for your article.

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merefalow | Nov 13, 2012, 04:34 PM EST

it seems hypocrasy to wear a poppy commemarating the deaths of people who implimented the will of imperialist england on the subjugation ,imprisonment and death of irish men in their own country ,in defense of their ownnation.If they wear the easter lily then maybe we would wear the poppy.some things can never be forgotten,but maybe,in the spirit of conciliation,some things may be forgiven and never return to injustice,oppression,imprisonment,fear, death, and destruction.

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RedBranch | Nov 13, 2012, 02:49 PM EST

God but Arlene's a tasty bit of flesh!

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pilib04 | Nov 13, 2012, 02:42 PM EST

To suggest that one side was better than the other side in this war, is just plain balderdash. It was a waste of millions of working class lives solely for the profit of the upper class.

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Deidra47 | Nov 13, 2012, 02:21 PM EST

You may not approve of the wars that were held but it is no reason not to remember and honor those who served or died during these times. They followed orders and did their duty. Wearing a poopy is also a reminder of the great loss in war and to try and not have them again. Those folks need to read the history of the "birth" of the poppy and the poem "In Flanders Field".

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hancock | Nov 13, 2012, 02:20 PM EST

Hey , everybody doesn't love the english. Deal with it. What was WWI fought about? A lot of poor guys from a lot of countries got killed for nothing.

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ToryTory | Nov 13, 2012, 01:06 PM EST

Thanks Pillb04 for your vapid analysis of the Great War; equally, thank you WoundedKnee for you bizarre meanderings into the realm of politicised history. The usual dross from Irish Central presenting their bigotry for all to see.

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pilib04 | Nov 13, 2012, 01:04 PM EST

By the way, TORY TORY is correct. The Poppy symbolizes Colonialism and Imperialism.

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pilib04 | Nov 13, 2012, 01:02 PM EST

Enda Kenny didn't wear a poppy? Now that's a shocker! I knew he was in Enniskillen for the Remembrance Day, but just assumed he would wear the poppy. There must be some mistake. First he takes on the Pope, and now he thumbs his nose at the English. Goodness, what will happen next?

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