State funerals declined and refused Former
Taoisigh John A. Costello and
Liam Cosgrave did not receive state funerals, at the request of their respective families. Similarly, a 1948 press release at the repatriation by
LÉ Macha of the remains of
W. B. Yeats, who had died in France in 1939, stated "The Government was, of course, desirous to accord full State honours in connection with the funeral, but considered it proper to respect the wishes of the poet's relatives." A state funeral was offered after the assassination of UK ambassador
Christopher Ewart-Biggs in 1976;
his widow agreed instead to a memorial service. There was minimal official support for the 1970 reburial of men killed in India in the 1920
Connaught Rangers Mutiny. ==Protocol==