Hannah Ryan | News Editor
The Provost of Trinity College, Patrick Prendergast, has threatened a campaign for the remembrance of Trinity College alumni who fought and died in World War II with legal action.
The University War Memorial Project, formerly The Trinity College Dublin War Memorial Project, was set up to campaign for a memorial statue to be erected on Trinity’s grounds in honour of the 111 Trinity alumni who died in the Second World War. It is coordinated and funded by Peter Mulvany.
The website, tcdwarmemorialproject.com, encourages visitors to sign a petition asserting that “the Trinity Dead have been written out of the story of World War Two and most shamefully by their Alma Mater Trinity College Dublin.” It goes on to state that “it’s time for Trinity College to address its failure to adequately remember its own” and calls on the college to erect a “fitting memorial” to rectify this.
“The Trinity Dead have been written out of the story of World War Two and most shamefully by their Alma Mater Trinity College Dublin.”
According to a notice posted on the website, the Provost has expressed objections at receiving “unsolicited correspondence” from campaigners (in the form of this petition) and demanded that the website domain be removed from the internet, and the names Trinity, TCD, Trinity College and Trinity College Dublin also omitted from the campaign.
In a rebuttal issued to the Provost’s legal representatives, Mulvany identifies himself as the “owner and registrant” of the website, which was “publicly available for purchase from the Irish Domain Registry”. His letter goes on to state: “One is frankly astonished that during the week of remembrance your clients should seek to address their concerns through threats of legal action when all it would have taken was a contact with me directly and matters would have been [dealt] with insofar as possible.”
The name of the campaign has subsequently been changed but Mulvany has refused to remove the website domain as it was “legitimately available” for purchase, along with other variations.
“The failure to address this outstanding debt of honour sullies the distinguished ethos of Trinity College and needs to be rectified sooner rather than later.”
“Stifling democratic debate through threats of legal action is very unTrinity,” Mulvany writes. “The campaign will continue until that memorial is erected. Although the next step is up to your clients, I would earnestly add a wee word of caution. Those concerned should be mindful of the legal and political consequences from public perception through inaction on the memorial issue.”
The website for the campaign quotes President Michael D Higgins saying: “To be forgotten is to die twice” and emphasising the importance of “memorialising conflicts”. It includes a Roll of Honour of those Trinity alumni who died in the war and asserts that “The failure to address this outstanding debt of honour sullies the distinguished ethos of Trinity College and needs to be rectified sooner rather than later.”
Asked to comment, the college issued a statement saying: “There is no disagreement between the Provost and the University War Memorial Project. There is an issue, however, around the use of the Trinity College Dublin name in the campaign’s website, in its domain and content. The website uses a number of registered trade marks for the College (Trinity, Trinity College, TCD). In protecting the College’s name, it is normal practice for its legal counsel to inform those of any misuse, which was done in this case. The campaign website also invited visitors to send letters to the Provost which it was also asked to desist from doing.”
