Irish honours system

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern has backed the establishment of a system to honour Irish people for outstanding achievements.
Mr Ahern told the Dáil that any scheme would have to be transparent and to be open to any person and further it must command all party support.

Enda Kenny said that any system agreed would have be so devised that it did not breed public cynicism and it would have be above partisan party politics.

Labour's Eamon Gilmore said the more he heard about the idea the less he liked it, asking how an honours system would be compatible with a republic where everyone was equal.

But Caoimhghin O'Caolain of Sinn Féin said he was in favour of a scheme and saw no difficulty in reconciling the idea with republican principles.

Earlier this year Bertie Ahern said an Irish honours system should be created to mark the achievements of people such as golfing star Padraig Harrington and those who make extraordinary contributions to society.
"Increasingly what we are seeing is [that] the British are now honouring Irish citizens. There's been a number of them in the last five years,"
"We should have a way, a national way, of honouring not just stars but people who make a contribution, an enormous contribution, to Irish life. The fact is we don't have that," he said.

Shortly after he became Taoiseach in 1997, Mr Ahern attempted to get an all-party agreement on setting up a national honours system, but the talks broke down following a disagreement with Fine Gael and the experience has made him reluctant to repeat the attempt.
Mr Ahern said yesterday that back in 1998 he tried to get an all-party agreement on a national honours list, not just for sport but also for community leaders and people involved in the arts and business.
"Unfortunately I couldn't get an all-party agreement. But I was in favour of it then and I am still in favour of it," he told golfing correspondents on the margin of yesterday's Government reception.

A spokesman back then said: "We don't have to mimic what is done in the United Kingdom. There are plenty of ways to honour people."

The British government has awarded titles in recent years to Michael Smurfit, Tony O'Reilly, Bono and Bob Geldof. "We don't have an equivalent here and that's a pity. Terry Wogan got one too.

"The distinction is not just to make it a superstar thing - I would be in favour that you can honour exceptional people who do exceptional things, but it could either be the community or the arts, we have a whole lot of award schemes and the only real one we have is the President's, the Gaisce awards, but that is slightly different," said Mr Ahern.

History of honours in Ireland
In 1941, the Irish Government decided to institute a medal to honour those who fought against British rule in both the 1916 'Easter Rising', and to those who fought in the Anglo-Irish War, and the Irish Civil War.
In 1946, a medal was instituted to honour those who took part in defending Ireland during what the Irish term 'The Emergency'

Since 1946, a medal called the Scott Medal has been awarded.
History of the Scott Medal
In 1923, the then Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, General Eoin O'Duffy met Colonel Walter Scott, an Honorary Commissioner of the New York City Police and a well known philanthropist.
Colonel Scott expressed the wish to assist in some way with what was, at the time, the world's youngest Police Force, namely the Garda Síochána. He presented to An Garda Síochána a one thousand dollar gold Bond, the interest from which would pay, in perpetuity for a gold medal.

The one condition attached to the award of the Scott Medal was as follows:
"No action, however heroic, will merit the award of the Scott medal unless it takes the shape of an act of personal bravery, performed intelligently in the execution of duty at imminent risk to the life of the doer, and armed with full previous knowledge of the risk involved".

In 1925, Colonel Scott presented to the Garda Síochána a further 500 dollar bond to present silver and bronze medals to members who, during the year performed similar acts in the execution of duty but with less risk to their lives and who are next in order of merit.
The medal is in the form of a Celtic cross, 44mm in diameter. There are five panels on the face. The inscription on the top panel are the words "The Scott Medal" and on the lower panel "For Valor" (note the American influence on the spelling). On the right and left are the eagle and shield of the U.S.A. and the harp and sunburst of Ireland, respectively. The centerpiece is from the Garda Crest with the intertwined letters G.S. - the initials of the words, Garda Síochána.
The reverse of the medal carries the inscription, "Gharda Síochána na h-Éireann". The four outside panels are the arms of the four provinces of Ireland, Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught.

A Scott medal ceremony is held annually where recipients are formally presented with their medals by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The ceremony usualy takes place at the Garda College.

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Irish honours system