Big Fellow made history in own image

Ninety years ago today, Michael Collins supposedly accepted the surrender of Dublin Castle, but Ryle Dwyer notes that this was really a sly piece of press manipulation

WHAT Michael Collins actually did 90 years ago today was formally accept his commission from the representative of King George V to act as chairman of the new provisional government. As he was one of the country’s foremost Republicans, that might have been sensational news, but he covered it up with a fictitious announcement about accepting the surrender of Dublin Castle.

After the Dáil approved the Anglo-Irish Treaty on January 7, 1922, Éamon de Valera resigned as President, and he was defeated in a bid for re-election. Collins then proposed Arthur Griffith as both President and chairman of the provisional government. The latter role was just a title to facilitate the handover of power, but de Valera said Griffith had no authority to act in the dual capacity until the Irish people ratified the treaty.