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Michael Collins - to find out why he sold Ireland out

Collins himself protested his appointment as envoy plenipotentiary, as he was not a statesman and his revelation to the British (he had previously kept his public presence to a minimum) would reduce his effectiveness as a guerilla leader should hostilities resume.

Some historians believe de Valera did not go to London because he knew that Ireland would not get the treaty that she wished for and the people that signed it would be the ones to blame. Since he wanted to remain blameless, so he sent others in his place. de Valera was a very smart man and he knew that it was going to be impossible for Ireland to become a Republic or even united because in the end it would only be a compromise.

Behind de Valera's refusal to support the foundation there also lie several other examples of mean-spiritedness, such as the squabbling for years over the attendance of the Army at Bealnablath, or the air-brushing of mention of Collins out of the official Department of foreign Affairs publication. Facts About Ireland. In particular, there is the sorry saga of the Collins memorial in Glasnevin cemetery.

It is a matter of record that for years Johnny Collins, a civil servant, and thus very much at de Valera's mercy, strove unsuccessfully to have a fitting memorial erected over his brother, who, as the first Com-mander-in-Chief of the Irish Army, lay in a military grave. Again McGrath had offered to fund this, but the family insisted on paying for the memorial themselves. Finally, de Valera called Johnny in and stipulated that the cost of the memorial should not exceed 371.01€ and it should be in limestone, not marble. He prescribed a formula of words he wanted used on the cross and ordered that there be no English on the front of it. The cemetery records show, that, on July 31st, 1939, a few weeks before the world went to war, Taoiseach de Valera took time out to sign personally the certificate of authorisation for the design and erection of the memorial cross over his old adversary.

What the certification does not show is the fact that de Valera forbade Johnny to allow attendance at the dedication ceremony, either by the press, the public, or by any member of the Collins family apart from Johnny himself. Only the officiating priest and an altar boy were permitted to be present. Had an out-raged off-duty gravedigger, who tended Collins's grave, not accidentally come across the melancholy little ceremony and hailed a passing tourist with a camera, there would have been no pictorial record of Johnny standing alone, apart from the gravedigger, at his famous brother's graveside. It was published, for the first time, in my biography of Collins.

The 1916 the 50th anniversary celebrations at the GPO were attended by a distinguished Irish-American delegation, including Congressman John Fogarty of Rhode Island, a particular favourite of de Valera's because of Fogarty's record in sponsoring House resolutions advocating Irish unity. Foley was so close to Fogarty and his three brothers, that he said he was described as "the fifth Fogarty". Foley told me that, at a convivial reception in Aras an Uachtarain after the GPO events, Fogarty took advantage of his standing with de Valera to inquire: "Mr President, what's the story of your involvement in the death of Michael Collins?" De Valera replied: "I can't say a thing John but - that fellow had it coming to him."

...two things are certain: There has never been a man in Irish history to do more in a short amount of time than Michael Collins and die believing in his cause. Second, Ireland today is still fighting; they are still divided and there seems to be no end, but one day when people are able to see past their differences and look back on one man whose dream was a free Ireland. A united Ireland then maybe they will stop and the country will become one just as Michael Collins once believed could happen.