Taoiseach said: He would consider a request to erect a statue of Michael Collins in Dublin

    A metal sculpture of Gen Michael Collins at Cathal Brugha Barracks Military Museum, Dublin. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

DUBLIN: The Taoiseach has pledged to consider calls for a statue of Michael Collins in Dublin but suggested more historical research into Collins may be a more appropriate way of ensuring his role in the fight for Irish freedom is never forgotten.

Speaking earlier this week, Micheál Martin said he would talk to Fine Gael’s Patrick O’Donovan, Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, after Mr O’Donovan said it was time that Collins was honoured by the State with a statue in Dublin given his central contribution towards Ireland achieving independence.

“I don’t believe that somebody of Michael Collins’s greatness should be left to voluntary groups to commemorate, notwithstanding, they do a hugely important job and have done so generations while the State failed Michael Collins’s legacy and failed his memory,” said Mr O’Donovan.

When he and other members of his age were growing up in the 1990s, Mr. O'Donovan said it was incorrect that Collins, "the founder of the nation," had been left out of the history books. He made this statement on RTÉ Radio One's Today with Claire Byrne earlier in the week.

In response, Mr. Martin stated: "We took advice, just like prior administrations and the opposition did, regarding how we would approach the Decade of Centenaries... and if I am correct, and I welcome correction on this, the advice from academics was to take a different path, the academic one, which involves exploring issues.

I'm reading a book by Ann Dolan and William Murphy about Michael Collins, and they really bring a fresh analysis to the different aspects of Michael Collins's life, so to have, if you like, a fresh analysis from a historical perspective so that we would inform current generations in relation to the past.

When Mr. Martin made history last Sunday by becoming the first Fianna Fáil Taoiseach to attend the 100th anniversary commemoration of Collins death in an anti-Treaty IRA ambush at Béal na Bláth in west Cork, he was effusive and generous in his appreciation of Collins.

In his speech, Mr. Martin acknowledged that Collins was a leader who "always provided a special inspiration" to Fine Gael and that he also "played a hugely important role in establishing Ireland's democratic traditions." He called Collins "a man who played an irreplaceable role in securing Irish freedom."

"In his brief 31 years, Collins left a profound, positive, and enduring impression on our nation. He dedicated his life to his country while being shaped by the principles of his community. He was a dynamic leader who could motivate followers while also creating a brand-new government from scratch in the midst of a brutal struggle, according to Mr. Martin.

He is a major factor in how we were able to create a nation that, despite its obstacles, has undergone positive change. He deserves our gratitude for this now more than ever before, and he deserves to be recognised as one of the greatest Irishmen to have ever lived.

The Taoiseach added, "We have the actual monuments, but what is more essential, if I am being honest, is if we generate a better knowledge of our past among a younger generation, but also a more informed awareness and not to be approaching history from the perspective of the winner or the loser,"

"We need to approach history with as open a mind as one possibly can because we are all brought up with prejudices and certain perspectives, but 100 years on, we should be able to look at things a bit more detachedly and objectively."

Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne, Mr. O'Donovan commended Mr. Martin for recognising the contribution Collins made to achieving Irish independence, but he felt that 100 years after Collins's passing, the State ought to acknowledge his significance by erecting a statue of him in Dublin.

Michael Martin nailed it when he noted that Michael Collins wasn't a partitionist or someone who encouraged the Civil War, he wanted to prevent all of that. "In a lot of families up and down the country, Michael Collins was discussed in a revered manner, and that included anti-Treaty houses as well,"

The Irish State has not honoured Collins with a statue in Dublin, where he oversaw Ireland's struggle for independence, despite An Post and the Central Bank having both produced commemorative stamps and coins in his honour.

"Ireland has really done a very poor job maintaining the memory of Michael Collins, but it is now, in my opinion, time for tourists and for Irish people for people who realise that we are now living in a democracy that was established because of him, that he takes his place rightfully in the capital city."

Ms. Byrne questioned Mr. O'Donovan about whether or not honouring Collins may be interpreted as favouring one side in the Civil War. Mr. O'Donovan responded that he would not object if Collins were honoured with Arthur Griffiths and Cathal Brugha, who also passed away in the summer of 1922.

Brugha had served as the first president of Dáil Éireann in 1919, a post Griffith also took in 1922, and to honour all three would ensure that there was no divisiveness on the issue, he said.