Mick Clifford: Past meets present for a life lost and legend born

Beyond contemporary politics though, it was about honouring a man who did his country a major, selfless service

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, leader of Fianna Fáil passes the armoured car, Sliabh na mBan, arriving at the commemoration of the centenary of the death of Michael Collins at Béal na Bláth. Picture: Larry Cummins

History caught up with the present at Béal na Bláth.

The division, sowed by a brutal Civil War a century ago, was symbolically closed with the joint orations of Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar at the place where that conflict’s most fabled casualty, Michael Collins, met his end.