The vision of Michael Collins should be shared by all Irish people and not associated with one party, the director of the National Museum said yesterday at the annual Béalnabláth ceremony to mark the 81st anniversary of Collins's death in an ambush in west Cork.
Dr Pat Wallace said the time had come to celebrate rather than commemorate the patriot, whose vision was "still alive".
The Collins vision was essentially one of a Gaelic civilisation. He viewed the biggest task of the new State as the restoration of the language. He wanted a prosperous rather than materialistic country; united, not by economic forces, but by spiritual ones.
"A Europe united in the acknowledgement of the different cultures of which it is made up will be healthier than one bogusly unified by products and labels of multinational supermarket chains," Dr Wallace told a large attendance.
"Teachers should not be afraid to teach the glory that is Ireland's history. We have become fearful of old memories and in avoiding them we have failed to hand on our traditions. History in many instances has become a prelude to current affairs.
"The history of St Patrick and how his Christian vision helped to light up Europe - is it taught any more? No. Yet in Irish medieval history there are no issues that involve unionists, or the IRA or the cause of nationalism. Young people should be taught ancient Irish history, which was an inclusive one and absorbed outside cultures. But teachers are shying away from this."
Dr Wallace said the honours Leaving Cert programme now began only after 1870. Students did not even study the Famine. As traditionally the Irish absorbed other cultures, it was important the new wave of non-nationals be taught Irish history also, as they in their turn might become "more Irish than the Irish themselves".
Dr Wallace then addressed what he termed the "Beverly Downes Syndrome". He said: "There is no excuse for not using our unique stock of place-names more frequently especially in the naming of new housing estates, streets and business premises if only for their sonorous beauty. Think of Béalnabláth, for instance, one of the most beautiful names in one of the saddest of places." He contrasted the beauty of this name with the new "epidemic of regionally restricted English nouns and inappropriate television-series-inspired adjectives, which combined to produce floods of new bogus place-names.
"This is a country teeming with names for every field. Cork alone has 5,500 townland names."
Dr Wallace said that a drive to use Irish place-names should come, not from a Government directive, from the hearts of the people themselves.
Monuments were another feature of Irish history and culture which needed protection. While there was now legislation in place to ensure these monuments were kept as symbols or our cultural heritage, we needed an attitude of respect towards them. This will only happen when ancient history is taught at all three levels of education, he said.
Few realised how young Collins was when he took over the reins of State, Dr Wallace continued. "De Valera was eight years older than Collins. When he was negotiating the Treaty, Churchhill was 15 years older than him. Lloyd George at that time was 59. And if Collins had lived, at the time of President Kennedy's death [in 1963\] he would only have been 73. When he took over the Department of Finance and Health he was a mere 31 years of age.
"Béalnabláth must be a shrine whereby the Irish cultural, social and non-materialistic wills of the nation come together to affirm our respect for our ancient past and its unique preserved legacy."
A grand-niece of Collins, Ms Helen Hoare, said everyone was obliged to protect his democratic legacy, which was attacked by greed, corruption and racism. But one of the greatest attacks on democracy was the low turn-out at Oireachtas and local elections.