Taoiseach and Prime Minister Cameron to visit World War 1 memorials in Belgium

The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron will jointly visit a number of First World War graves and memorials in Flanders, Belgium this morning.

The joint visit, where both leaders will pay their respects to those who gave their lives in World War 1, represents another key milestone in the deepening of British-Irish relations. The visit takes place as part of the decade of centenary commemorations of key events on these islands between 2012 and 2022.

The Taoiseach and the Prime Minister will visit a number of locations where soldiers in British uniform, including many Irish soldiers, fought and died.

The visit will include
· the Island of Ireland Peace Park at Messines which is a memorial to the 50,000 Irish war dead;
· the grave of William Redmond, nationalist politician and Member of Parliament in the Irish Parliamentary party. He was commissioned as a captain in the Royal Irish Regiment, with whom he served 33 years. He went to France on the Western Front with the 16th (Irish) Division, in the winter of 1915-16 .
· the village of Wytschaete where the 16th (Dublin) and 36th (Ulster) divisions advanced together and fell in the attack on Messines Ridge;
· Menin Gate Memorial dedicated to British and commonwealth soldiers whose graves are unknown, and
· Tyne Cot Cemetery – the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war.