Stepping away from the hurly burly of the campaign for a moment, today is the anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, resonant in Unionist history
The UVF certainly were prepared to prevent implementation of an Act of Parliament but they were formed before the Government of Ireland Act 1914 was passed. As for the 50,000 Nationalist Irishmen who died, I absolutely salute their sacrifice but this essay was not about them, it was about the symbolism of the Somme and the 36th (Ulster) Division for Unionism.
" ... this paramilitary organisation had been created in 1912 to defend against the possibility of Irish Home Rule ...". Would it be more accurate to say "to prevent the implementation of a lawful Act of Parliament"?
In the context of writing about the undoubted enormous sacrifice of the Ulster Division, would it not have been appropriate to mention that at least 50,000 Irishmen of the nationalist persuasion also died fighting for the rights of small nations in World Was I?
The UVF certainly were prepared to prevent implementation of an Act of Parliament but they were formed before the Government of Ireland Act 1914 was passed. As for the 50,000 Nationalist Irishmen who died, I absolutely salute their sacrifice but this essay was not about them, it was about the symbolism of the Somme and the 36th (Ulster) Division for Unionism.
" ... this paramilitary organisation had been created in 1912 to defend against the possibility of Irish Home Rule ...". Would it be more accurate to say "to prevent the implementation of a lawful Act of Parliament"?
In the context of writing about the undoubted enormous sacrifice of the Ulster Division, would it not have been appropriate to mention that at least 50,000 Irishmen of the nationalist persuasion also died fighting for the rights of small nations in World Was I?