Fine Gael chairperson objects to wearing of Easter Lily

» Mark Moloney

Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan last November wore the British Legion military charity's Remembrance Poppy in the Dáil. The poppy commemorates all British military personnel who have been killed since 1914, including those in Ireland in the 1916 Rising.

A SENIOR Fine Gael TD has objected to the wearing of Easter Lilies in the Dáil by Sinn Féin TDs as a mark of respect to those who gave their lives for Irish freedom.

Fine Gael Chairperson and TD for Laois/Offaly Charlie Flanagan interrupted Sinn Féin's Brian Stanley TD during a debate on the Family Home Tax to ask whether it was acceptable for members of the house to wear Easter Lilies. “Some members of this House may find the wearing of such emblems offensive," Flanagan said.

Flanagan called for a report from the Ceann Comhairle, saying:

“I wish to object to the wearing of the emblem by Sinn Féin deputies.”

Brian Stanley pointed out that no Sinn Féin TD had objected to the wearing by Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan last November of the British Legion military charity's Remembrance Poppy. The poppy commemorates all British military personnel who have been killed since 1914, including those in Ireland during the 1916 Rising and the Tan War, what Fine Gael calls the War of Independence.

The Easter Lily pin is worn by republicans to commemorate all those who gave their lives for Irish freedom. It was first created by Cumann na mBan in 1926 to raise funds for the Irish Republican Prisoners’ Dependants Fund.