Noonan defends Fine Gael's Northern record

Fine Gael's record on Northern Ireland has been strongly defended by the leader of Fine Gael, Mr Michael Noonan, during the annual Michael Collins commemoration in Beal na Blath yesterday.

The "stepping stones" offered by Collins had made possible the declaration of the Republic in 1948 by John A. Costello, the Sunningdale Agreement by Mr Liam Cosgrave in 1973 and the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, Mr Noonan said. "It is interesting, incidentally, to note that these three remarkable achievements were primarily the achievement of Fine Gael Taoisigh," He said

Acknowledging the work of Mr Albert Reynolds to secure the 1994 IRA cessation, Mr Noonan said he raised a question mark "over what it was that Fianna Fail did not do" once it had got into power in 1932.

"They were long on rhetoric and undoubtedly built up significant support on the basis that they were the only party that could deal with the Northern Ireland situation," he said. "But rhetoric on its own never achieved anything and historians will, I believe, deliver a harsh verdict on the contrast between Fianna Fail's rhetoric and its lack of achievement in relation to Northern Ireland during their extensive periods in office during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s."

Defending the Collins legacy, the Fine Gael leader blamed Fianna Fail for denigrating his memory for many years, particularly by refusing to allow the Irish Army to participate in the Beal na Blath commemoration.

"Who can forget the pettiness of the Fianna Fail government in the 1930s in relation to the erection of a memorial at the grave of Michael Collins in Glasnevin? Who can forget, even as recently as the 1960s, the pettiness of a Fianna Fail government in refusing to include a photograph of Michael Collins in the first edition of an official government handbook Facts About Ireland?" he asked.

"These were petty acts of a petty-minded people. They were met mainly with a dignified silence by people who knew that the reputation of Michael Collins would never be diminished and who also knew that the ideals for which Michael Collins lived and died would eventually receive the recognition that they so richly deserved."

Attacking Sinn Fein, Mr Noonan said major, if not complete, progress had been made on most aspects of the Good Friday agreement, including prisoner releases, police reform, bar decommissioning.

He said Fine Gael rejected efforts by anyone to use violence in pursuit of political objectives.

Although he welcomed Sinn Fein's involvement in politics in the Republic, Mr Noonan said it would have to accept that the Army was the only military force entitled to bear arms under the Constitution.

"Until they recognise that in our democracy there is only one Army, their participation in our democratic institutions here will inevitably be a qualified one for those of us whose commitment to democracy is unqualified and unequivocal," he said.

The legacy of Collins was not just a military one. He was a superb administrator, and a constitutional visionary. "The text that finally appeared in mid-1922 did not prevent a civil war, it did represent further significant concessions on the part of the British," he said.

"Indeed, what the Treaty and the 1922 Constitution represented is now recognised as the beginning of a huge international constitutional revolution that eventually dismembered the entire British Commonwealth and Empire peacefully".

The "democratic cornerstones" accepted by Collins included a recognition that the consent of Ulster Unionists for change had to be won.

"Unfortunately, the principle of consent was withdrawn by de Valera in the 1937 Constitution and was eventually restored in binding international laws only with the signing of the AngloIrish Agreement by Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher in 1985."

The full text of Mr Noonan's address is available at the Irish Times website at www.ireland.com