Kearney to join Sinn Féin delegation to Flanders Fields

Mr Kearney, who is also the party’s national chairperson, will travel alongside Martin McGuinness MLA and Mary Lou McDonald TD at the invitation of the Flemish government.

He said: “This week our Party leadership delegation will pay respect at these key, significant sites associated with WW1, where tens of thousands of Irishmen died,” Mr Kearney said,

He added: “Sinn Féin believes this particular year which marks both the centenary of Easter 1916 and the Battle of the Somme should be embraced as an opportunity to develop a shared culture of commemoration and remembrance respecting all our traditions in Ireland on the basis of parity of esteem and equality.

“This initiative from Sinn Féin is a sincere contribution to demonstrating respect towards, and developing a greater understanding for, those from unionist and nationalist backgrounds who lost their lives in Flanders fields and the Somme during WW1.”