How times have changed....

Evidence of an Irish politician's scruples on expenses . . . in 1922
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ALISON HEALY and BARRY KENNERK

A LETTER has been uncovered showing a politician’s concern about his personal use of an election car. Surely some mistake? Well, it was almost 90 years ago; and it did involve Michael Collins.

The letter, written 18 days before his death at Béal na mBláth, records him offering to pay half of the bill for a car hired for canvassing during the June 1922 election because some of the journeys were personal trips.

The letter was written to Skibbereen solicitor Tom Healy who had acted as election agent for Collins and seven other candidates. He hired cars from local firm Johnson and Perrott for canvassing.

However, the Civil War erupted after the pro-treaty victory and Cork was in chaos. The solicitor was concerned about the outstanding bills from the election and wrote to the five Cork candidates who had been elected. Collins received the letter by hand on August 4th and replied the same day. “ . . . I can only say that I think it would not be fair to charge full expenses for the car which I had from Messrs. Johnson Perrot [sic] for about a week to the ELECTION FUND”, he wrote. “Some of the journeys were private journeys, and I would say if the bill were got from Messrs. Johnson Perrot that half of it would be Election expenses and I would pay the other half myself.”

He had the car for about five days.

Despite being commander- in-chief of the National Army in the midst of a Civil War, Collins had the grace to apologise for the oversight in not settling the matter when he was in Cork.

He wrote: “It is to be hoped however, that you will get the matter completed without much further trouble to yourself”.

He signed it Miceál Ó Coileáin, a signature he had probably used since first attending Gaelic League classes in London.

Someone later added “Michael Collins” under the signature, presumably to indicate that “Miceál Ó Coileáin” denoted “Michael Collins”.

The correspondence has been in the possession of Mr Healy’s daughter, Marcie Healy, since he died in October 1957.

It appears that the solicitor had no luck in contacting the other four elected TDs and he later applied for an extension on the invoices.

Collins’s scrupulousness in handling third-party money is commensurate with his earlier employment. He had previously worked in a stockbroking company, a bank and an accountancy firm.