Most Irish nationalists/republicans , and Irish Catholics , choose not to wear poppies ; they regard the Poppy Appeal as supporting soldiers who killed Irish civilians ( for example on Bloody Sunday ) and who colluded with illegal loyalist paramilitaries ( for example the Glenanne gang ) during The Troubles . Irish nationalist groups , and victims ' groups , have urged the BBC to end its policy that all presenters must wear poppies . They argue that it breaches impartiality and point out that political symbols are banned in workplaces in Northern Ireland . They also say that the BBC , as a publicly funded body , should broadly reflect the whole community . Likewise , the director of Relatives for Justice has condemned the wearing of poppies by police officers in Catholic neighbourhoods , calling it " repugnant and offensive to the vast majority of people within our community , given the role of the British Army " . In the '' Irish Independent '' , it was claimed that " substantial amounts " of money raised from selling poppies are used " to build monuments to insane or inane generals or build old boys ' clubs for the war elite " . On Remembrance Day 2010 the SDLP ’s Margaret Ritchie was the first leader of a nationalist party to wear one
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Remembrance poppy