In first, Irish PM lays wreath for British war dead

(Reuters) - Ireland's prime minister laid a wreath to honour fallen soldiers at a British Remembrance Day service for the first time on Sunday, the latest gesture of reconciliation between historic foes.

Annual Remembrance Day services to honour Britain's war dead and the wearing of the traditional poppy are controversial in Ireland because of abuses committed by soldiers in Northern Ireland and during British rule in Ireland before independence.

Enda Kenny took part in a service in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland on the 25th anniversary of the Irish Republican Army bombing of a Remembrance Day service in the town that killed 12 people, one of the worst atrocities of three decades of sectarian violence.

He stood head bowed during two minutes of silence before taking his turn to lay a wreath on the war memorial yards from the spot where the IRA bomb exploded in 1987.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/11/uk-ireland-britain-remembrance-idUKBRE8AA08420121111