PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins laid a wreath at a commemorative plaque in Collins Barracks, Dublin, yesterday, in remembrance of those who died in wars and on service with the United Nations.
Speaking in Irish and English, Taoiseach Enda Kenny invited the President to lay the wreath.
It was followed by a minute’s silence, the firing of an Army gun and the Last Post sounded by trumpeters and drummers.
The Tricolour was then raised to full mast accompanied by the roll of drums. Amhrán na bhFiann was played but an Air Corps flyover was cancelled due to low clouds.
Beneath leaden skies, the annual ceremony featured military displays, readings by representatives of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths, hymns and music from the Army No 1 Band and the Band 4 Western Brigade and Cois Cladaigh, Galway.
Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin said: “God and Father of all consolation . . . show compassion to your people as we hold dear the living memory of all Irishmen and Irishwomen who died in the past wars or on service with the United Nations.”
Readings were also given by Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Dr Michael Jackson; Rabbi Zalman Lent, representative of the Jewish Community in Ireland; Rev Kenneth Lindsay, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland; Fr Tom Carroll of the Greek Orthodox Church; Rev William Buchanan, moderator of the Monaghan Presbytery, Presbyterian Church; and Imam Sheikh Hussein Halawa, of the Islamic Cultural Centre.
Chief Justice Susan Denham and Defence Forces chief of staff Lieut Gen Seán McCann also attended, as did Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore; Ministers Alan Shatter, Michael Noonan, Frances Fitzgerald, Jimmy Deenihan,Brendan Howlin, Richard Bruton and Joan Burton; Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe; Ministers of State Brian Hayes and Joe Costello; and Attorney General Máire Whelan.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett, Leas Cheann Comhairle Michael Kitt, Seanad Cathaoirleach Paddy Burke and Lord Mayor of Dublin Naoise Ó Muirí also attended.
On Saturday, the annual ceremony to commemorate the Irish of past wars, organised by the Royal British Legion, was held at the National War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge, Dublin, where Dublin’s Lord Mayor and his Belfast counterpart, Gavin Robinson, laid wreaths together.
