TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny normally performs well at set-piece, public events. But his speech on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Michael Collins’s death at Béal na Blá was strong on outmoded nationalistic rhetoric and short on political and economic realism. He invoked fading divisions from the Civil War while, at the same time, promising to mark other forthcoming events, such as the Dublin Lockout, the Easter Rising, the first World War and the Treaty with “generous and insightful, inclusive and dignified” commemorations. If that is to happen, a more thoughtful and balanced approach will be required.
Politicians can rarely resist putting the boot into their opponents. Mr Kenny did not hold back on this occasion. It may be that the invitation, as the first Fine Gael Taoiseach to speak at the ceremony, caused a rush of blood to the head. But his commitment to recover “economic sovereignty” – whatever that means within a European Union where the Government parties advocate a sharing of power under the fiscal treaty – set the tone for a speech that implicitly blamed Fianna Fáil for the State’s current financial difficulties and categorised the death of Collins as an “assassination”. It was an unfortunate departure from a healing process that, two years ago, saw the late Brian Lenihan invited to speak there.
The Taoiseach’s recipe for economic recovery is little different from that enunciated by Mr Lenihan at that time: improved competitiveness, sustainable public finances and credit for businesses and households. In addition, Mr Kenny offered an extensive reform agenda and – with an eye to Fianna Fáil – a crackdown on political corruption. Economic difficulties would not, he insisted, become political excuses not to change, not to restructure, not to reform. Those are useful commitments at a time when the Government’s appetite for political reform appears to be diminishing.
The appeal of Michael Collins as a “lost leader” has had a powerful influence. His physical courage, administrative ability, ruthlessness, political realism and early death generated endless speculation of “what might have been” within Fine Gael, even as the rise of Eamon de Valera was seen as a direct and negative consequence. Within Fianna Fáil there was an understandable tendency to minimise the status and legacy of Collins as that party became the dominant force in Irish politics. This year’s anniversary and the political resurgence of Fine Gael should not be used to rekindle old animosities.
Rather than looking back, the Taoiseach could have invoked the hard-headed pragmatism of Collins and his creative genius to identify a positive role for Ireland in an evolving European Union where the sharing of sovereignty with other states can extend influence rather than diminishing it. Equating a restoration of Irish economic sovereignty to withdrawal of the troika and renewed access to international funding represented a lazy, unsophisticated and partial view of political and economic realities. Hard times should be accompanied by straight talking.