Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

On numerous occasions I highlighted the fact that 50,000 young Irishmen died in the Great War and it is only recently that we have begun to commemorate and remember them. They were volunteers and not conscripted. We should unite to ensure a blanket pardon for those men who were executed. An Irish soldier was ten times more likely to be executed than a New Zealand soldier in a contingent of the same size. The British Government and people showed a bias against the Irish who volunteered. The lower classes were also treated badly. King George pardoned those of the higher ranks because the petitions were signed by people of influence. I can see no reason for the British Government's refusal to accede to this request to pardon innocent Irish and British men who were shot at dawn.