The poppy and its significance

Dear sir - With regard to Cllr Cantwell's letter (Meath Chronicle, 14th November), it is fitting that relatives remember their loved ones who fell in past conflicts. However, to try to turn it into a sectarian issue is totally counterproductive. It begs the question: Has Cllr Cantwell or anybody else ever asked the Catholic Church in Trim to read the names of their relatives. The problem with Remembrance Day and the wearing of the poppy is that it is being use to promote the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to promote British imperialism and militarism. I believe wearing a poppy is seen by Irish people as commemorating British soldiers who killed Irish people on the streets of Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Derry. The bullying of Irish people into wearing poppies will not promote their cause. The coverage in the British media about Eddie Jordan, Shay Given, Nadine Coyle and Westlife for not wearing poppies is astounding. Maybe there is a failure in Irish society to find a neutral way to remember the thousands of Irish working class men and women both Catholic, Protestant and dissenter who died in past conflicts. I look forward to the limestone tablet being proposed by Cllr Cantwell. Will it include the names of Irishmen and women who fought for the "freedom of small nations" (their own)? Volunteer Thomas Allen left Co Meath at Easter 1916 with the Trim company of the Irish Volunteers to fight for Ireland's freedom. He died in the Four Courts on Easter Thursday . He is buried in the graveyard in Longwood. We can remember the men and women, both Catholic and Protestant, who died for Irish freedom by wearing an Easter lily and attending the many commemorations held across Meath every Easter including for Thomas Allen in Longwood. I look forward to next Easter to see if Cllr Cantwell will honour all of Ireland's fallen sons and daughters by wearing an Easter lily as proudly as he wears his poppy. Yours, Paul Scannell, Dun Doíre.