A chara, – The sight of poppy breasted Micheál Martin in Enniskillen over the weekend was a bitter pill for many of the Fianna Fáil grassroots to swallow.
As a Republican and a member of the Fianna Fáil party I find it disturbing to see An Taoiseah and Uachtarán of FF wearing a poppy. In principle I have no problem commemorating the Irish men and women who fought in both World Wars, however wearing a poppy is not appropriate. The poppy commemorates the Black and Tans, the members of the parachute regiment involved in Bloody Sunday and the Ballymurphy massacre as well as all other British regiments and historic military engagements, many of which could only be described as massacres.
Wear an Irish flag or dove of peace but please never a poppy. It seems Martin is ever inching the party closer and closer to the Fine Gael ethos. In doing so he is playing into the hands of Sinn Fein who continue to make gains in the opinion polls.
Maybe our Taoiseach will be the last leader of Fianna Fáil, maybe he wants a grand merger, is anyone ready for Fianna Gael or Fine Fáil? Not me!
– Yours, etc,
BOBBY O’NEILL,
Killeens, Co Wexford.