More than 85,000 men served in the Royal Irish Constabulary between 1814 and 1922, and more than 500 of those policemen were killed between 1919 and 1922.

However, a question has arisen today about whether these men and their organisation should be commemorated at all, as an official event has been set for later this month in Dublin. 

The Mayor of Clare, Cathal Crowe has decided not to attend the commemoration service, and then the Lord Mayor of Cork John Sheehan also said he wouldn't be attending. Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald has called for the event to be cancelled.

The next few years will see a number of centenaries that are likely to cause upset and controversy when we look back at the years leading up to and during the War of Independence.

Lorcan Collins is a historian and author of "Ireland’s War of Independence," and he joined Ivan in studio to discuss the controversial role this force played in Ireland from the early 1800s right through to the Civil War.