There was a warm welcome from Government and Opposition parties to legislation passed by the House of Commons yesterday giving pardons to soldiers executed during the first World War, including 26 Irishmen.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, Fine Gael spokesman on defence Billy Timmins and Labour spokesman on defence Joe Costello, all welcomed the passage of the legislation which gives formal pardons to the 26 Irish soldiers executed for military offences. The soldiers were executed by firing squad for a variety of offences including cowardice and desertion. One case file is marked "shot for example".
The legislation came after years of work by the "Shot at Dawn Campaign" to prove that most of the volunteers should never have been killed.
Under the legislation 300 servicemen who were executed for military offences while serving in the British army are to be pardoned. The pardon is intended to remove the dishonour of execution. It does not quash the convictions or sentences and as such does not apply to those convicted of murder.
Speaking in London, where he met emigrant groups yesterday, Mr Ahern said the Government had raised the issue formally with the British in a comprehensive report in 2004.
"The legislation enacted by the British government today recognises that execution was not a fate these young men deserved. This pardon will be formally recorded in their military files," he said.
Mr Ahern paid tribute to Peter Mulvany, the head of the Shot at Dawn Campaign, for his tireless efforts in ensuring that these men were not forgotten.
Mr Timmins also welcomed the legislation. "Hopefully this will bring some solace to the families of the men brutally executed by their own officers in the first World War. The sacrifice of these soldiers and their service during the war will also rightly be commemorated when their names are added to the Irish National War Memorial Records," he said.
Mr Costello, welcomed the pardons saying 90 years was a long time for the families to wait.
"The Labour Party has long supported the Shot at Dawn Campaign, which has sought pardons for those who were executed by their own officers in the midst of battle."
SHOT AT DAWN: pardoned soldiers
LEINSTER REGIMENT - Ptes Albert Smythe and Thomas Cummings (Belfast), 1st Irish Guards; Ptes Thomas Hope (Mullingar) and Patrick Joseph Downey (Limerick)
ROYAL MUNSTER FUSILIERS - Ptes Thomas Davis (Ennis) and James Graham (Cork)
ROYAL IRISH RIFLES - Lance Cpl Peter Sands (Belfast), Riflemen James Crozier (Belfast), John F McCracken (Belfast), James Templeton (Belfast) and Samuel McBride, Ptes James Cassidy, Thomas Murphy (Tralee, also known as Hogan), John Wishart (Omagh), Robert Hepple (also known as J Hope) and John Seymour
ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIERS - Pte Joseph Carey (Dublin)
ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS - Pte George Hanna (Belfast)
1ST BATTALION ROYAL DUBLIN FUSILIERS - Pte Stephen Byrne (Dublin, also known as M Monaghan)
IRISH GUARDS - Pte Benjamin O'Connell (Foulksmills)
MACHINE GUN CORPS - Pte Patrick Murphy (Dublin)
ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY - Drivers James Mullany and John Bell (Dublin)
(IRISH) KING'S LIVERPOOL - Pte Bernard McGeehan (Derry)
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY - Pte Arthur Hamilton
CANADIAN INFANTRY - Pte James Wilson (Limerick)
