Taoiseach Harris to miss Remembrance Sunday commemoration at Enniskillen | BreakingNews.ie

Simon Harris will not travel to the annual Remembrance Sunday commemoration at Enniskillen, in a notable break with the tradition of the sitting Taoiseach attending.

Confirmation of the move came a day before Mr Harris is due to formally announce an election in Ireland on Friday and kick off three weeks of campaigning.

Fine Gael stalwart and Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys, who is not seeking re-election, will attend instead.

It represents a significant break in a tradition begun by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Mr Kenny became the first taoiseach to attend a Remembrance Day service in Northern Ireland when he took part in commemorations at Enniskillen in 2012, in a move seen as symbolic of greater recognition afforded in the Republic of Ireland to Irishmen who fought and died serving in the British Army in the First World War.

His attendance also marked the 25th anniversary of an IRA bombing at the memorial in 1987.

The tradition has been followed almost every year since Mr Kenny placed a laurel wreath at the base of the memorial.

Eleven people who had gathered to pay their respects to the war dead were killed and dozens were injured in the no-warning blast on November 8th 1987, minutes before the Remembrance Sunday ceremony was due to start.

A 12th victim of the Poppy Day bombing died 13 years later having never woken from a coma.

Mr Harris’s predecessor Leo Varadkar missed the ceremony in 2018 as he was attending an Armistice Day centenary event in France.

Kenny Donaldson, SEFF’s director, said: “For many years people have witnessed diplomatic niceties being observed in Enniskillen for Remembrance Sunday.

“Irish taoiseachs have come and have laid laurel wreaths and have exchanged pleasantries with other dignitaries.

“So too have UK secretaries of state also come and participated similarly.

“It is very important for states and their political leaders to honour and show respect for the war dead and whether that is in Enniskillen or elsewhere.

“That observance of respect should be authentic and real, minus any political choreography.

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“So in responding to the Taoiseach’s non-attendance this Remembrance Sunday in Enniskillen, we and many others would be interested to know if he will be attending another event observing this important annual occasion where thousands upon thousands of Irish citizens died in the First World War and Second World War alongside their British counterparts and others suffered physical and psychological injuries which remained with them through to death in most cases now.

“We reissue our call for his direct engagement with the families affected by the Enniskillen Poppy Day bomb – a sectarian and ethnic motivated cross-border crime perpetrated by the Provisional IRA.

“When the election in the Republic concludes and should he find himself as the taoiseach of the new administration then we will be expecting him to come to Enniskillen and directly engage with bereaved families.”