When World War II broke out, he loudly proclaimed that Ireland was neutral while the rest of the world fought to put an end to fascism and wholesale murder, although there are those who don't think Dev was sincere in his declarations.
But he was adamant about the appearance of the whole "neutral" business. Any Irish member of the Defense Forces who took it upon himself to join the fight, making a mockery of Dev's decree, was labeled a deserter.
When all those men came back at war's end, they were treated like what Dev had labeled them: deserters.
Those who dared to defy the neutrality stance that he ordered were made to pay for many long years. Who'd want to hire a deserter, after all? Such men were blacklisted, to be denied employment for the very grave sin of showing up Eamonn de Valera.
The Irish State is finally getting around to pardoning those whom the rest of the world considers heroic. Sixty-five years on, however, it's rather late in the game.
It's nothing more than a gesture for the few still alive and the families of those who paid the price for taking action, contravening the man who crowned himself king of Ireland.
No one can repay those who lived in poverty because they couldn't find work, and there's no mention of re-instating Defense Force pensions that were denied because the recipients were considered deserters.
That's the problem with correcting a wrong long after such a correction could repair the damages. It never comes out right.
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