Béal na mBláth, calumny and historical ignorance

AS an Irishman whose ancestors were prominent advocates of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, I am appalled by the sentiments expressed by Senator Liam Twomey (August 12).

Senator Twomey begins his letter with a baseless calumny blithely accusing the “predecessors” of Fianna Fáil minister Brian Lenihan of the murder of Michael Collins and thus criticising the minister’s invitation to speak at the annual Béal na mBláth commemoration of his death.

It is shocking that a senator of this Republic should display such ignorance of Irish history and willingness to stir up civil war animosity for political expediency. Michael Collins was gunned down in the civil war in August 1922. Fianna Fáil was of course founded in 1926. The Fianna Fáil “predecessors” of Minister Lenihan have thus the perfect alibi to the senator’s murder charge.