Taoiseach ‘hijacked’ Collins’s good name

I would like to express my appreciation of the excellent article which Micheál Martin wrote recently on the Béal na mBláth commemoration, which was statesmanlike, dignified and respectful.

This article was an outstanding example of how people in Ireland would wish to honour Michael Collins but are unable to fully do so because people like Enda Kenny, in his delivery at the commemoration, showed once again his inability to grasp even a modicum of understanding that we have indeed moved on from the bitterness and division of the Civil War.

His speech was petty and ill-conceived and has deeply offended people from all political standpoints. As Micheal Martin pointed out, Fianna Fáil has indeed shown their appreciation of this great Irishman by the presence of Brian Linehan and other leaders at the commemoration over the years.

Unfortunately, Enda Kenny has again chosen the old divisive route of using this occasion to pretend that Michael Collins was a Fine Gael or even Cumann na nGaedheal member, neither of which party even existed when Michael Collins died.

Patricia Keyes

Cork City