Vol. 453 No. 2
9 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Defence if the Government intends holding an official commemoration for all those who served in the Irish Defence Forces and the Emergency Services during the Emergency, particularly those in the Merchant Marine who lost their lives in ensuring that vital supplies reached this country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8041/95]
Since 1986, a National Day of Commemoration has been held each year in Dublin. The National Day of Commemoration, organised by the Department of the Taoiseach, takes place in July and is held to honour all Irish men and women, including those in the Merchant Navy, who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations. On the Day of Commemoration, a ceremony is held comprising an ecumenical service of prayer by religious leaders and a wreath laying ceremony with appropriate military ceremonial at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. This years' National Day of Commemoration will take place on Sunday, 9 July 1995.
On Friday, 28 April 1995 the Taoiseach hosted a ceremony to commemorate all those people, North and South, who lost their lives in the second World War and the victims of the Holocaust and to mark the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of the war. This ceremony took place in the Irish War Memorial Park in Islandbridge.
