Michael Collins - Not afraid of bankers

Today is the anniversary of the death of Michael Collins and we mark the occasion by publishing a fresh look at how Collins as finance minister of the day might have reacted to the crisis besetting modern Ireland.

Turning a critical eye on the appalling ineptitude and inefficiency which brought the country to its knees, author and historian Tim Pat Coogan sets a scene that everyone will recognise. In a society where suicide is rampant, he depicts a country deprived of economic sovereignty, denuded by emigration, and reeling from the aftershock of hammer-blows delivered by a class of lazy, corrupt, and greed-driven politicians, senior civil servants, bankers, businessmen, lawyers, accountants, and stockbrokers.

It is an illuminating and damning appraisal of misgovernment, starkly illustrating how the founders of the State have been betrayed. Above all, it underlines the lessons yet to be learned.

No doubt Collins would approve the Central Bank’s appointment of Frenchman Cyril Roux as Financial Regulator. Taking over from Matthew Elderfield, an Englishman who brought transparency and accountability to a shambolic, homegrown, hands-off regulatory system, at least Mr Roux is aware Ireland needs effective financial supervision if the economy is to recover.

As a man of action, not only would Collins have arraigned the culprits in the courts long before now, he would probably have ordered a firing squad.