Veteran in Uganda backs Irish soldiers
While many former soldiers took to the streets of Dublin to highlight the dire pay and conditions endured by their serving compatriots, one man took it upon himself to show solidarity by holding his own march 11,600km away.
Diarmuid Ó Briain, a veteran soldier who now lives in Kampala, Uganda, could not get home for the march on the Dáil last Wednesday, but decided he was going to make a gesture all the same.
He made his way to hand in a letter to the Irish ambassador to Uganda, William Carlos, to be forwarded to Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, asking him to use his powers to get a better deal for serving soldiers, sailors, and aircrews.
Mr Ó Briain, who remains a member of No 6 Post, Irish UN Veterans Association, which is based in Limerick, posted on Facebook that he wanted to do what he could to participate in the Respect and Loyalty parade staged in Dublin by veterans and members of the lobby groups Wives and Partners of the Defence Forces (WPDF).
He said he was delighted that Mr Carlos “gave him a very dignified and respectful reception”, allowing him to parade in support of the Dublin march, which backed serving personnel in the Defence Forces who were not allowed to represent themselves as military authorities said it would contravene military law because they perceived it as a political rally.
Mr Ó Briain, who works as an information security executive, has previously said that Ireland needs to beef up its cyber security defences.
Meanwhile, the organisers of Wednesday’s Respect and Loyalty march have urged former Defence Forces members and their families, WPDF, and other supporters to put posters/stickers they have designed to highlight the lack of Government respect of serving personnel on their homes.
Retired regimental sergeant major Noel O’Callaghan, who was one of the chief organisers of the march, is urging people to display them on their windows to let all who call looking for votes “know that the Defence Forces community will always support each other, and those who support our Defence Forces”.
