The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern T.D., has today laid before the Oireachtas a report prepared by his Department into the courts-martial and executions of 26 Irish-born soldiers by the British Army during the First World War. 

 

In its findings, the report described a military system of justice which was flawed, which appeared to ignore clear evidence of medical afflictions, and which was marked by class-bias and a disparity in the treatment of different nationalities, including in particular Irish soldiers. A total of 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were tried under this system and 'shot at dawn'. 

 

Addressing Seanad Éireann on this issue today, Minister Ahern said that “our unwavering objective is to engage in finding an agreed resolution on this issue that would bring comfort to the families of those executed.”

 

The Minister recalled that this year marked the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. He stressed that it was in the spirit of recognising the experience and sacrifice of all our countrymen who fell during the First World War, that the Government had lent its support to the campaign to secure pardons for those Irish men who were “shot at dawn”. 

 

“It is our objective to recover their memory from the dishonour that was done to them some 90 years ago.”

 

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Press Office

28 March 2006

 

 

Note for editors:

 

  1. The Government formally submitted the “Report into the Courts-Martial and Execution of Twenty Six Irish Soldiers by the British Army during World War I” to the British Government in October 2004; it has been in ongoing contact with the British Government since then with a view to securing a resolution to this issue for the relatives of those executed.

 

  1. A response to this Report by the British Government has been delayed by a legal petition for pardon on behalf of the British Soldier, Private Harry Farr, lodged by his daughter.  This case has the potential to be resolved in a way that would set a precedent affecting the Irish cases.  The latest hearing in this case was held on 27 March.

 

  1. The 'Shot at Dawn' campaign, headed in Ireland by Peter Mulvany, has attracted the support of politicians across the spectrum, both in Ireland and Britain.

 

  1. The full text of the Minister's address and the text of the Shot at Dawn Report will be available at www.dfa.ie.

 

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28/03/06