The peoples of both Ireland and Turkey suffered from Winston Churchill

I should remind you here that ‘our gallant ally’ , U.K. , had conquered and subdued Namibia and Tanganyika by methods even more barbarous than those of the British in taking their own African empire. These were foolish times of course, and only an idiot today would look back to the bloodshed of these years with pride.

I am happy to say that in Ireland, we have put the 1916 Rising well behind us, and we refer to it merely as an example of the sorry lunacy that can seize the souls of otherwise good men, when madness becomes fashionable. So, at least some of the seeds of the 1916 Rising were sown in the Dardanelles. It was a cruel paradox that the first regiment to arrive from Britain to put down the Rising were the Sherwood Foresters — who, if you remember, had been used to ‘secure’ the Turkish battleships, the seizure of which had helped propel the Ottomans to war in the first place.

Yes, in the loathsome figure of Winston Churchill — an imperialistic war-monger and egotistical bully — the Turkish and Irish peoples are united by a common and imperishable loathing.’

Now, through some inexplicable oversight, the Department of Foreign Affairs did not give this speech of mine for the President to make at Gallipoli. Why not? The British tabloid headlines the next day would have been the purest joy to read.

And as for the President’s comments about Turkey’s proposed membership of the EU, which have clearly vexed many of you, more  at

kmyers@independent.ie

– Kevin Myers

Irish Independent