Céad Míle Fáilte for Nazi Germany-A troubled Irish History.

I want to say this first before I go into the blog. I live in Ireland, I love Ireland and not one day have I regretted moving here. It is my home.

However what does disturb me is that some Irish politicians are calling on a boycott on some Israeli goods.

These same politicians appear to have forgotten a troubled Irish History where they embraced one of the world’s most brutal regimes with open arms and gave it the “céad míle fáilte” -A hundred thousand welcome treatment.

On October 17th 1936 the Republic of Ireland football team played a friendly match against the German team, in Dublin Ireland won by 5-2.

Crowd: 28,000. The German team performed Nazi salutes during the playing of their national anthem. Although Germany had not invaded any country at that stage, it had become clear at this stage what the Nazi regime stood for.

A few months before the outbreak of WWII, but after the annexation of the Sudetneland and Austria, the Irish Football team played another friendly match against Germany. The date was May 23,1939 and the venue was Bremen, Weserstadion. The score was 1-1 but this time the German and the Irish team both did the Nazi salute. This was also about 6 months after the Kristallnacht.

In 1936 Irish exchange students were send on a trip to Berlin to meet up with members of the Hitler Youth.

Even the current main government party,Fine Gael, has a National socialist legacy. It was born out of the Army Comrades Association also known as the blue shirts. The leader Eoin O’Duffy He modeled the organisation, by adopting elements of European fascism, such as the Roman straight-arm salute, Nazi salute, uniforms and huge rallies.

In September 1933 Cumann na nGaedheal merged with the Blue shirts and Fine Gael was born.

In 1943 Oliver J. Flanagan was elected as a Fine Gael politician to the Dail(Irish parliament) In his maiden speech he said the following:

“How is it that we do not see any of these Acts directed against the Jews, who crucified Our Saviour nineteen hundred years ago, and who are crucifying us every day in the week? How is it that we do not see them directed against the Masonic Order? How is it that the I.R.A. is considered an illegal organisation while the Masonic Order is not considered an illegal organisation?There is one thing that Germany did, and that was to rout the Jews out of their country. Until we rout the Jews out of this country it does not matter a hair’s breadth what orders you make. Where the bees are there is the honey, and where the Jews are there is the money.”

His son Charles Flanagan is currently the Minister for Justice and Equality in Ireland. But just because he is his Oliver’s son doesn’t necessarily mean that he subscribes to the same ideas as his father.

On May 2nd 1945, the then Irish prime minister Eamonn DeValera and the Irish President Douglas Hyde, offered their condolences to the German Minister in Dublin on the death of Adolf Hitler.

After the war Ireland became a hiding place for several Nazi war criminals. Leading Nazis like Otto Skorzeny and the Dutch war Criminal Pieter Menten.It is also rumored the Joseph Mengele stayed in for 6 weeks in Ireland, shortly after the war and just before he fled to South America. Although the Irish government say that they have no recotds of Mengele ever being in Ireland.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center even provided a list of aliases Mengele was known to have used in the past to help investigate whether or not Mengele ever stayed in Ireland

As far as I am aware Ireland never boycotted the Nazu regime because of its neutral stance. I find it utterly bizarre that some politicians feel the need now to boycott Israel.

 

Sources

Irish Times

The Journal.ie