Senator could do with a history lesson

Fine Gael senator Liam Twomey cannot have been serious when he criticised the decision to invite Brian Lenihan to deliver the oration at the Michael Collins commemoration at Béal na mBláth this weekend.

Whether he was serious or not, he should be ashamed of himself for playing fire with Civil War politics at this stage in our history. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny should also be ashamed that a member of his party is seeking to make political capital by raking through the bones of man who died nearly 90 years ago.
But to my knowledge, nobody in Fine Gael, not even Enda Kenny, has publicly disagreed with Twomey’s distortion of the facts in order to get his name in the papers.
He claimed that Brian Lenihan’s “predecessors” had murdered Michael Collins. As a matter of fact, Brian Lenihan’s grandfather – a Clareman – supported the Treaty and fought on Michael Collins’s side in the civil war. In later years, he joined Fianna Fáil because he became an admirer of Seán Lemass.
The Civil War was one of the greatest tragedies in Irish history. Men and women who had fought side by side against the might of the British Empire over the previous five years turned their guns upon one another in a bitter struggle that divided the Irish nation for decades.
It is only in recent years with the passage of time and the passing of all those who fought on either side that we have been able to forget the divisions of the past.
It is a long time since I heard any Fine Gael politician accuse a Fianna Fáil member over the shooting of Michael Collins. It is equally a long time since I heard anybody on the other side condemn any Fine Gael member over the atrocities carried out by the pro-Treaty side in Kerry or elsewhere.
The fact of the matter is that terrible things were done on both sides. As in any war, all the devils were not on one side and all the saints on the other.
But, for heaven’s sake, Brian Lenihan was not on either side. He wasn’t born when the Civil War took place. His father wasn’t born until after the Civil War.
Senator Twomey’s outburst was so outrageous that I do not believe it was for real. I think most Irish people – no matter what their politics – would have a high regard for Michael Collins. Many of us would consider him one of the greatest – if not the greatest – hero of the fight for freedom.
Michael Collins does not belong to any one party and Twomey again displays his lack of knowledge of Irish history by referring to “Fine Gael under Michael Collins”.
Fine Gael was never “under Michael Collins” because that party was not founded until the early 1930s – 10 years after the death of Collins.
We don’t even know what Collins might have thought of Fine Gael because the policies pursued by that party were a far cry from the policies pursued by Collins. And most of the leaders of Fine Gael down through the years would have little in common with Michael Collins. I am not criticising them for that. Different times needed different people. But don’t try to tell me that James Dillon, for instance, or John Bruton would be kindred spirits with Michael Collins. I am quite sure that neither Dillon nor Bruton would ever claim to have anything in common with Collins. The only thing Collins would have in common with Liam Twomey is that both came from near Clonakilty in West Cork.
It is right that men like Michael Collins are commemorated today. For years the commemoration at Béal na mBláth was looked on as a Fine Gael event. But for a number of years now the organising committee have been trying to include other than Fine Gael people in the event.
This year, however, is the first time that a Fianna Fáil speaker has been invited to deliver the oration.
The organisers should be praised for honouring Michael Collins while at the same time helping to heal the divisions caused by the civil war.
But apparently Liam Twomey would have none of that. He apparently wants to keep out those who, he thinks, might be descended from those who fought against the Treaty. What bigotry!
How could we possibly think of uniting Catholics and Protestants on this island if we want to keep the descendants of those who fought on both sides in the civil war 90 years ago divided?
Of course, Liam Twomey is no bigot. But his words are those of a bigot.
And it says a lot about the standard of political debate here when he has to stoop so low to get his name into the papers.
He is entitled to criticise Brian Lenihan but he is not entitled to alter the facts of Irish history to get publicity for himself.
Of course Senator Twomey wants to win back the seat in the Dáil that he lost at the last election. But I do not believe he will win any extra votes if that’s the way he is going to go about it.