FORMER PRESIDENT of Ireland and UN high commission of human rights Mary Robinson will deliver the oration at a ceremony to commemorate the death of Michael Collins at Béal na mBláth tomorrow.
The commemoration will take place at 1pm to facilitate Mrs Robinson, who is flying in from the US for the event and is due to travel to Tel Aviv, Israel, at 5pm on the same day.
The organising committee is very anxious that those who are planning to travel to Béal na mBláth for the commemoration know of the one-off change of time from the usual 3pm ceremonies to 1pm.
Frank Metcalfe, who is on the organising committee, says they are delighted to welcome a speaker of as high a calibre as Mrs Robinson.
“We invited her two years ago and she consented to come this year. We are expecting a far bigger crowd this year because there is so much interest in Mary Robinson.
“We are keen to let people know about the change in time this year because this is the first time ever that it wasn’t at 3pm.”
Mrs Robinson is currently a member of the Elders group of world peacemakers that includes ex-UN secretary general Kofi Annan and former US president Jimmy Carter.
This year’s commemoration marks the 87th anniversary of Collins’s death in a Civil War ambush.
Over the years the Collins oration has been delivered by many high-profile speakers, including British film-maker Lord David Puttnam and former GAA president turned MEP Seán Kelly.
Delivering the oration last year Mr Kelly told the 500-plus people at the commemoration that it was time to consign to the scrap heap any semblance of bitterness and poison that might still remain after the Civil War.
He also spoke of how the memory of Collins helped inspire him as he steered the controversial Rule 42 through the GAA in 2005 to pave the way for soccer and rugby to be played at Croke Park.
Collins was killed on August 22nd, 1922, after being ambushed on the Cork to Bandon road by anti-Treaty IRA forces.
Up to 1,000 people are expected at the site tomorrow.