Fine Gael’s decision to enter the current coalition arrangement with Fianna Fáil marked the end of Civil War politics in Ireland, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said as he welcomed the opportunity to join Taoiseach Micheál Martin in speaking at this year’s Michael Collins Centenary Commemoration.
Mr Varadkar said the forthcoming commemoration to mark the death of Collins at Béal na mBláth in an ambush by the anti-Treaty IRA on August 22nd, 1922, would be an important opportunity for both Mr Martin and himself to reflect on how Ireland has developed in the past century.
“The Civil War has been over for nearly 100 years, and I think Civil War politics in this country is over as a consequence of the coalition we are in now but I also think, when we both speak at that event, it will be an opportunity to reflect on how successful our State has been over the past 100 years.”
Mr Varadkar said it was true that Ireland still had many problems and it was right that they were debated and discussed but equally, it was true to say that the Irish State founded by Collins and all his contemporaries had also proven highly successful in many respects.
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“We’ve had 100 years of democracy, 30 peaceful transitions of power, we’ve gone from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to being one of the most prosperous and a relatively safe country to live in – living standards are above the European average and none of that was true 100 years ago.
“I know we have a lot of problems, and we talk about them all the time and rightly so – but while we have a lot of problems that we need to fix in this country, the vision of those founding fathers has largely been achieved.”
Speaking during a visit to Macroom in Co Cork, Mr Varadkar thanked the Michael Collins Centenary Committee for inviting him to speak at this year’s commemoration, which he described as “a real honour”.
Mr Varadkar, who is due to take over as taoiseach in December, echoed Mr Martin’s conciliatory note when he revealed in June 2019 that he wanted to retain a portrait of Collins in the taoiseach’s office along with putting up a portrait of Éamon de Valera when he took office.
Portrait of de Valera
Mr Varadkar told reporters he believed Mr Martin’s decision to ask to leave the portrait of Collins in the office was “a nice gesture” and he did not envisage removing the portrait of de Valera when he takes over as taoiseach.
Meanwhile, Mr Martin, speaking before he was invited to speak at this year’s commemoration, told of his admiration for his fellow Corkman, Collins, who was returning from a tour of Free State garrisons in west Cork when he was killed in an ambush.
“I think we should commemorate the centenary of the death of Michael Collins in the manner we would commemorate the loss of a statesman. He was an outstanding Irish leader in terms of the War of Independence... all of that generation had extraordinary commitment to the country.
“I think we should honour the leaders of that period without fear or favour and do it in a proper way,” Mr Martin told the Sunday Times as he ruled out a State inquiry into who exactly killed Collins when his convoy was ambushed by a party of anti-Treaty IRA men.
“I don’t think that’s the way to go through the past. I much prefer the work of academics – good, solid, informed histories. That, to me, is the more informed way to go about it – to look back on history. I think Diarmaid Ferriter’s book Between Two Hells is one example of that.
“Let’s not approach history with the perspectives of today or with your own prejudices. You should approach history objectively and try to tell the story as it was, through the prism of those who were there at the time and what their impulses were and what their emotions were.”
Mr Martin, who is due to give the opening address on June 15th at a major conference on the Civil War organised by the school of history at UCC, also told the Sunday Times about meeting the Collins family and hearing how they believed Collins should be best remembered.
“History is complex – there’s never one simplistic narrative. We’re all biased to certain extents, to certain degrees. I think the Collins family have [the] view reconciliation is the key objective, and they would have had that view a long, long time ago in respect of families in west Cork on the other side.
“I was very taken by what Helen, the grand-niece of Michael Collins, said. They much prefer Woodfield, the birthplace of Michael Collins, rather than Béal na mBláth because to them Béal na mBláth is a death site.
“It has never been appealing to their family, whereas, actually, I got it when I was at Woodfield. The location is idyllic – where he was born and reared. She explained to us how the Essex Regiment had burned it to the ground,” he said.
