Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for introducing this Bill. I first raised this issue in the Seanad in November 2011 because, in the context of our preparations for the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising, I felt it important to draw the attention of the House to a forgotten, although no less brave, cohort of men. In granting a pardon, the Minister has made an historic decision for which he should be congratulated.

During the Second World War almost 5,000 Irishmen left or deserted the Defence Forces to join the British Army to fight for democracy and the future and freedom of us all. Many of these brave men never made it home. The book Spitting on a Soldier's Grave details the suffering some of these men endured in camps. Some of their children received special treatment in orphanages in Ireland because they were the children of deserters.

In August 1945, the then Government, headed by Éamon de Valera, circulated a list of almost 5,000 servicemen it labelled as deserters under the Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945. The list was a blunt political tool which denied these men their constitutional right to defend themselves in an Irish court. Membership of this list meant a person was barred from government employment for seven years and had to forfeit any pay due. Appallingly, it was the ordinary squaddie who was tarnished, because officers were exempt. Ordinary working-class lads, some of whom had been decorated for valour, were punished for their part in the fight against fascism. Fine Gael, in Opposition at the time, appealed for their pardon but then Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, and the Minister for Defence, Oscar Traynor, refused. Since then there has been a great movement to have these people pardoned as an act of compassion. I am aware that the Minister has been considering this matter since summer 2011 and I am delighted that he has concluded this process and granted the pardon. For the 100 veterans left alive and their families, this announcement will go some small way to ease the pain they have endured over the years. We should acknowledge these brave men who fought with idealism and commitment to protect democracy from tyranny.