Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While the Minister of State may be satisfied I do not believe the remaining men, their colleagues nor their families are satisfied with the efforts. In some ways, one would have to ask why the Minister of State is going to all this effort to give these men what they do not want. The citation this year was a generic piece of paper to A Company, it had no identifying features such as the name or rank which is very important to military personnel. The plaque in Athlone is not good enough. The soldiers themselves had to pay to have the names put on it. There is no record of the presentation rolls in 2006. The Minister of State might clarify that.

With respect to the portraits in the mess hall, one is of Lieutenant Colonel McNamee, who was not even in the Congo and the other is of Commandant Quinlan who was ridiculed for most of his military career. A picture in a mess hall is not adequate given the bravery and trauma these men experienced. The initiative in Baldonnel was welcome but it was only publicised among the Army community. It is not an appropriate recognition.

The Minister of State gave out 10,000 medals to people who took part in a celebration of the centenary of 1916 and we cannot give out medals for bravery to people who took part in one of the most heroic and inadequately represented part of our military history. What they want is a medal for bravery. There are only 30 or 40 of them left. It is time to acknowledge this.

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