Béal na mBláth address - Source of fury must be recognised

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan yesterday became the first Fianna Fáil minister to address the annual commemoration of the death of Michael Collins at Béal na mBláth.

Although few living people can remember the Civil War, many have been nurtured on the accounts related by parents or grandparents.

Mr Lenihan noted that even though his paternal grandfather, Paddy Lenihan, was a Fianna Fáil deputy during the 1960s, he was actually pro-Treaty and a supporter of Michael Collins during the Civil War.

The magnitude of Collins’s achievements have been recognised across the political spectrum in recent years. People may argue about what he might have achieved had he not been killed at the age of only 31, but Mr Lenihan urged that the assumptions about his potential be spelled out explicitly so that a proper debate can take place on an historical basis freed from the machinations of propagandists.

Debate surrounding Collins has at times been regrettably marred by the denigration of Éamon de Valera, as if only one of those two could be accorded the approval of history. “Surely now we have the maturity to see that, in their very different styles, both made huge contributions to the creation and the development of our state,” Mr Lenihan insisted.

Part of the healing process requires an acknowledgement that “alongside great patriotism and self-sacrifice, terrible deeds were done on all sides”. This is as applicable not only to the War of Independence, the Civil War, but also to the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Mr Lenihan cited a particular interest in Michael Collins, because he was an early Minister for Finance. Collins undertook the task of raising the first national loan and establishing an accounting system that required government departments to account to the Dáil for their expenditure.

“The challenges we face today are different from those that confronted previous generations,” Mr Lenihan said. “But we need to remind ourselves that many of those challenges were as daunting as our own.”

Mr Lenihan stressed the need for national understanding and acceptance that three elements are essential to the recovery and maintenance of future employment. These are improved competitiveness, sustainable public finances, and the availability of credit for both business and households.

The Government should show leadership in being straight with the people in exercising power for the common good, he said. “Governments must face up to realities and act,” he warned. “To procrastinate and hope that problems solve themselves is not an option.”

He acknowledged that public fury is a reasonable response to “the incredible recklessness and incompetence which fuelled the banking mania of the Celtic Tiger years. Like others I hope that anyone who broke the law will face its full rigours”.

While people should welcome the minister’s call for a rational approach to our history, the Government should recognise the present public fury is stoked by the realisation that those most to blame for the current economic mess have not been held responsible.

Minister, some have actually been rewarded.