TOM KETTLE MP. Wasnt there a sense of pride on hearing President Michael D. Higgins mention one of our own fighting Irish when addressing the House of Commons yesterday. I refer to no other than Tom Kettle MP whose grandmother was one of the McCoys from Ballyhahill. I dont know who drew up Michael Ds speech, maybe he had an input into it himself, he being an avid historian but it was moving to say the least. In addition i would like to add a few extra words quoting the great patriot himself who lost his life at the battle of the Somme in September 1916. Five days before he was mortally wounded he wrote the following lines in a letter home to his little daughter in Ireland, describing the soldiers going into battle he said Not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor, but for a dream born in a herdsmans hut and for the secret scripture of the poor. and as Michael D alluded to - Kettle died as an Irish patriot, a British soldier and a true European. He understood that to be authentically Irish we must also embrace our European identity. It is an identification we proudly claim today, an identificationwe share with the United Kingdom, with whom we have sat around the negotiating table in Europe for over 40 years. We recognise that it has been in that European context of mutuality and interdependence that we took the most significant steps towards each other.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 19:54:18 +0000
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