Cannon fodder for the British army

national | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Monday December 08, 2008 21:14 by Tom Cooper - Irish National Congress

The recent 'Nationwide' programme on the national broadcastor RTE, on the life and times of 'Irishmen in British uniform' on their day to day life in Aldershot army barracks in England as they prepare for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and perhaps even to the country that gave them birth, peddled a pro-British pro-unionist line that implied both the Irish and British armies are synonymous with each other. Despite the fact that the British army has been engaged in the blatent murder of Irish citizens since colonisation right up to present times, RTE, in the making of this programme, acted like a recruiting agency for the foreign army that continues to colonise six counties of this island. The behaviour of RTE in this matter is both unsavoury and sordid and acts against the national interest.

Many RTÉ television viewers will have been both surprised and disappointed following a recent edition of the “Nationwide Special” programme of December 1st. The programme dealt with the growing number of Irish people joining the British armed forces. The twenty minute long feature was filmed inside the garrison base of the Irish Guards Regiment at Aldershot in England. The Guards are a front line infantry formation that has experienced recent “action” in Iraq and Afghanistan. A number of officers and soldiers, mostly from the Republic of Ireland, were interviewed about their reasons for joining. However, no hard questions were asked and the interview style can only be described as “fawning”.

Commenting on the showing of this programme, a spokesperson for the Belfast based ‘Relatives for Justice’, a grouping that campaigns on behalf of the victims of British state violence, described the making of this programme as a disgrace. A spokesperson for RFJ informed the Irish National Congress, a 32 County nationalist lobby group acting in conjunction with RFJ, that this programme was in stark contrast, as he put it, to the “systemic failings of the RTÉ Northern news outlet to cover events that raised issues of British state violence”.

The RTÉ documentary portrayed life in today’s British army as challenging but rewarding, even favourable rates of pay were mentioned as an incentive to join. This is the type of message that might be well received by impressionable Irish youth, now experiencing economic difficulties at home. Furthermore, the showing of this programme by RTÉ amounts, in my view, to tacit encouragement of recruitment into the British army. This is a new and serious development within RTÉ, and I wonder whether senior management has given any thought to possible future implications.

As an Irish citizen, a taxpayer, and a payer of the mandatory TV license fee, I strongly protest the making of the “Nationwide” feature. I do so for the following reasons:

First and foremost because of the appalling record of the British army in this country from 1970 until very recently, a record that needs no retelling here. No self respecting Irish person or institution should have any direct dealings with the British military given such a record

Secondly, because of Britain’s foreign wars and warmongering. The invasion of Iraq was clearly illegal under international law. The present war in Afghanistan, although more complex, is also of dubious legality. The latter war is developing into a classic colonial struggle, which is now spreading into neighbouring Pakistan and threatens to become a full scale regional conflict involving India also. Is this the type of business Irish youth are to be encouraged to become involved in? Today, even the youth of Britain are not enlisting in sufficient numbers, very sensibly. Are Irish youth now being asked to make up the shortfall?

RTÉ has a duty of care towards the people of Ireland, being a publicly funded institution. Due to continued British state warmongering, any Irish person joining the British forces can expect at an early stage to be placed in harms way. Already in the past three months two citizens of the Republic have been killed in Afghanistan. More can be expected. I want to see no more Irish killed, and no more intrusive and unwelcome British military funerals in this state. RTÉ can do its part by ensuring that there will be no more propaganda of this nature which is now, unfortunately, becoming an issue and a serious problem in the southern Irish mainstream media.

Given the facts as outlined, RTÉ had absolutely no business being inside a British army barracks. If it was felt necessary to cover the issue of increased Irish enlistment into the British armed forces, RTÉ should have chosen a neutral venue in the Aldershot area. The December 1st broadcast, presented by Tommie Gorman, came across as blatant propaganda and PR spin. I trust the Irish people will not be exposed to any further recruitment “Specials” by the national broadcaster.