As published in the September 2017 issue of An Cosantóir Magazine
By Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald – Main image by Wayne – Photos by Armn Adam Murphy
“I am delighted as Patron of the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel to have this opportunity to visit this wonderful facility and it is appropriate to have these great services available to people who served Ireland at home and abroad. It is a basic right to have food and shelter and it’s important to take steps to break the cycle of poverty…”
Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, November 2016.
This year was also unique in that the ONE’s Fuchsia Appeal made several appearances in the storyline of RTÉ’s long-running soap, Fair City, with ONE members making cameo appearances as extras.
In launching the appeal Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett DSM said it is right that we help our former Defence Forces colleagues and that, “the ONE played an important role in providing comradeship and care for former service personnel.”
On a dull wet day at the end of June 2017 a large number of serving soldiers and Defence Forces Veterans gathered at the Defence Forces Monument at Merrion Square West. They were not there to lay wreaths to commemorate Ireland’s fallen soldiers but to support fundraising for veterans now living during harder times and in need of support. On the same day an Irish Times headline read: ‘More than 700 former Army personnel have stayed in residential homes provided by a support organisation over the last 12 years’ the article was about how former Defence Forces Veterans’ were caught up in Ireland’s homelessness crisis.
On the 28th June, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, launched ONE’s Fuchsia Appeal 2017 at the Defence Forces Monument, Merrion Square West. Minister for State with Responsibility for Defence Mr Paul Kehoe TD and the Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Larry O’Toole were also at the launch, which drew a large attendance.
Funds raised will be used to support former members of the Defence Forces who have fallen on hard times. ONE has to raise €600,000 annually to run its current facilities, which include residential centres in Dublin, Letterkenny and Athlone, and support centres in Dundalk and Limerick. The veteran’s organisation is currently providing accommodation for up to 40 former Defence Forces members and is expanding its network of veteran support centres in regional locations that have large numbers of ex-servicemen and women.
Since 1994, over 700 former members of the Defence Forces have been provided with a place to stay and many others have been assisted in various ways.
Regarding the annual appeal, Ollie O’Connor (ONE CEO) says: “The Fuchsia Appeal is fundamental to our efforts to protect former members of the Defence Forces from homelessness and poverty. The funds raised by the appeal enable us to help former colleagues at a challenging time in their lives. Many of these people gave outstanding service to the State and the UN but for one reason or another have fallen on hard times, since leaving the service.”
The fuchsia, known as ‘Deora Dé’ (God’s tears) in the West of Ireland, was chosen as the emblem of the appeal as it is grows throughout the country and was always a reminder of home when seen overseas.
Ollie told the Irish Times, “We hope to open another eight support centres in various barracks around the country in the next few months. Veterans find themselves homeless for the same reason as anyone else would. …it could be a social problem, a relationship break-up or it could be because of the nature of the job, they became institutionalised and they find it difficult to live independently outside of the institution,” he said.
He concluded, “Veterans are very slow to come forward when they have a problem, because they’re very proud. They have served all over the world, have done great things and very brave things and they will look after everybody except themselves.”
Minister Kehoe said he was proud to help launch the Fuchsia Appeal, “Since its establishment in the early 1950s, the services provided by ONE have been very much in demand. ONE dedicates itself to looking after the needs and welfare of ex-service personnel and in particular, to providing practical support for those in need of accommodation.”
Read these stories and more in An Cosantóir (The Defender) The official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces – www.dfmagazine.ie.
The museum began life in 1995 as a memorial to Chief Warrant Officer Donal Cunningham, a Carlow native who served with 10 Inf Bn before moving to America, who, after several tours abroad as a helicopter pilot, was killed in a training accident in Cyprus. To remember Donal, some of his former comrades in the Reserve put together a collection of his kit in their drill shed. As word grew, donations came in and it became apparent that a larger building was needed.
Today the military museum covers all aspects of Carlow’s warrior history, from medieval times to the 21st century. Most displays are interactive. For example, the medieval exhibits give a real sense of the weight of chain mail armour and weapons, and an appreciation of the time it took to get suited up for battle. There’s also a small area on the 1798 rebellion with a restored ‘Brown Bess’ musket holding centre stage.
The most extensive exhibits in the museum cover the period from 1900 to 1950, with a selection of uniforms, ordnance, bayonets, kit, and an atmospheric reconstruction of a three-man observation trench overlooking no-man’s land in Ypres.
Members of 10 Inf Bn were key in advertising and collecting for the museum and the unit is now honoured with an area that celebrates its life and times.
On May 25th 2014, the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) held their 16th annual wreath-laying ceremony in remembrance of all Defence Forces personnel, members of An Garda Síochána and civilian personnel who died on UN peacekeeping missions throughout the world. The ceremony was held at the memorial garden in IUNVA’s HQ on Mount Temple Road, behind Arbour Hill Church and Cemetery, where a memorial stone is inscribed with the names of those who sacrificed everything in the cause of world peace. The garden was opened by President Mary McAleese on November 8th 1998.
What makes this year special is that it is the 25th anniversary of the formation of IUNVA. It also marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of UNFICYP in April 1964, when 606 members of 40 Inf Bn arrived in Cyprus, and the 50th anniversary of the ending of Irish involvement in the Congo when 2 Inf Gp left ONUC in June of the same year.
DCOS Sp, Rear-Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, addressed the parade, thanking IUNVA for making sure the memories and names of all those that made the ultimate sacrifice for world peace are remembered. Fr Pat Mernagh CF and the Very Rev John Marsden, Dean of Kildare, led those present in prayers and then Airman Michael Whelan read out his poem ‘Fallen Friends’. The roll of honour was then read out by members of IUNVA posts from around the country.
Wreaths were then laid on behalf of the Defence Forces by Airman Michael Whelan (Air Corps), Pte Tadgh Luby (7 Inf Bn) and A/Sea Michelle Thompson (Dublin Unit, NSR). A wreath was also laid by representatives of other armed forces.
The day went very well and although it was such a solemn occasion it was very uplifting with everyone enjoying the parade and the opportunity to remember lost loved ones in good company.
On the 30th August 2011, a lecture room in Cathal Brugha Bks was named in honour of a fallen colleague of the staff of the 2nd Eastern Brigade Training Centre (2 E BTC). The Private Killeen Lecture Room, located in ‘B’ block on the main square.
In August 1960, Pte Killeen was deployed overseas to the Congo as a Peace-keeper with ‘A’ Coy, 33 Inf Bn. As part of a 706 strong Battalion with the newly founded UN mission ONUC (l’Opération des Nations Uniesau Congo). The Congo was only granted independence on 30th June 1960, after almost a century of Belgian rule. This was the first armed overseas mission undertaken by the Defence Forces since the foundation of the state.
Pte Killeen was killed (along with 8 others) on the 8th November 1960 at a river crossing near the village of Niemba in Katanga, when an eleven-man Irish patrol was ambushed by Baluba tribesmen. This was, and still remains, the greatest loss of life for the Defence Forces in a single incident overseas.
