Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that wearing a poppy is part of the “mature reflection” Ireland has undergone since the Good Friday Agreement. 

Mr Martin was in Blackpool, England for a meeting of the British-Irish Council and wore the poppy to a ceremony to mark Armistice Day. 

The wearing of the poppy began after the First World War as a way of remembering those who had died. 

At least 30,000 Irishmen and women died in the conflict and in the early years of the Free State the poppy was a common sight in early November. 

Crowd was gathered in College Green for the unveiling of a Celtic Cross in memory of the 16th Irish Division. The Irish Times estimated that 50,000 people were present at this ceremony - 12 November 1924.

However, the symbol’s link with British militarism has long made it controversial as well and in 2017 Mr Martin said, “Throughout my life, in my tradition, we didn’t wear the poppy.” 

Since becoming Taoiseach, Mr Martin has had a change of heart and now believes it is an important way of paying tribute to the dead. 

“I don’t believe it is as controversial as some suggest,” he told Newstalk.

“I think people understand the need to remember those who lost their lives in war and in the past. 

“We in Ireland - particularly coming out of the Good Friday Agreement - I think we entered into a mature reflection on all of these issues.” 

GPX371 FIRST WORLD WAR A group of the Royal Irish Rifles in a wide supply trench at the Somme front in July 1916

Mr Martin’s uncle was taken prisoner of war during the Second World War and he said he believed most Irish people would support him commemorating those who lost their lives in conflict. 

“I think it’s appropriate - particularly at the British-Irish Council which reflects the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement - that we would pay due honour to those who lost their lives in World War Two and World War One and in other conflicts," he added. 

“I have no difficulty with that at all and I believe the vast majority of Irish people are of one mind on that.”

Main image: Micheál Martin wearing a poppy. Picture by: Newstalk.