The Irish Government’s programme of events to commemorate
the Easter Rising is being defined by the actions of Sinn Fein. In fear of
being found on the “wrong” side of the Republican movement the Government has
abandoned all thought of rational analysis of the events of 100 years ago and
instead opted for the Sinn Fein narrative.
The decision to offer the family of Thomas Kent a full state
funeral for the removal of his remains from Cork prison and re-committal in a
family plot in Castlelyons is an example of the Irish Governments decision to
re-write history to a Sinn Fein script.
Thomas Kent was sentenced to death and executed for the murder
of Head Constable William Rowe RIC who had been sent to the Kent home to arrest
suspects after the start of the Easter Rising.
William Rowe left behind a widow and five children. What is
missing in the Irish Governments narrative is the fact that William Rowe was
also an Irishman going about his lawful duty as a Constable. What makes Thomas
Kent any more worthy of a state funeral than William Rowe or any of the 10’s of
thousands of Irishmen who fought and died on battlefields such as the Somme or
Gallipoli. The truth is he isn’t unless this act is part of the re-writing of
Ireland’s historical narrative.
While politicians in the Republic clamber to be associated
with acts of violence or the perpetrators of past terrorist activities such as
O’Donovan Rossa on the basis there are no local implications things will become
more difficult over the next few years.
The anniversaries of events during the Irish Civil War will
be more difficult to re-write into a narrative which shows Ireland standing
alone, united against the Brits. There will be many William Rowe’s who served
Ireland in different uniforms and who deserve to be remembered despite Sinn
Fein’s narrative.
