Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The GPO is the hallowed place where our republic was born. It is our GPO, a witness to our struggle, sacrifice and Rising. However, there are many aspects of our fight for freedom that also need to be recognised.

My grandfather was James Feely. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers in Boyle, County Roscommon, and a commander of the IRA in north Roscommon. He was imprisoned during the War of Independence, released after the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and he was one of the first gardaí in our State. Our family is very proud of his role in the War of Independence and his role as a garda, setting up the institutions of the State, defending them and protecting our people, which is continued many years on by the brave men and women of An Garda Síochána.

I have his statement from the Bureau of Military History here. In one aspect of it, it says:

In 1914, a company of the Irish Volunteers was formed in Boyle and I joined them. The company was about 100 strong, but about 40 of them went to the British Army when the first Great War started.

[...]

When Redmond finally split the Volunteers by recommending the Volunteers to take service in the British Army, all but a dozen men went over to the Redmondite side and became members of the new Irish National Volunteers.

Of the 100 men who were marching for the Irish Volunteers, 88 went to fight in the First World War and 12 remained. My grandfather was on the pro-Treaty side. Some 200,000 men went to fight, and the reasons for enlisting varied from poverty and a sense of duty to supporting Home Rule, which was postponed due to the First World War.

Up to 50,000 Irishmen died in the First World War and the rest who survived were treated with disrespect and airbrushed out of history. They were patriotic to Ireland and many were family, friends and colleagues of those in the GPO and those fighting for freedom. We have a duty to remember that, and like the GPO heritage, it should be respected. Their sacrifices and patriotism to Ireland should not be forgotten.

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