Fine Gael is to hold a commemorative event next month to mark the centenary of the founding of Sinn Féin, amid accusations that the history of the republican party has been hijacked by its latter-day namesake.
Speaking at a Michael Collins remembrance event yesterday, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said present-day Sinn Féin undermined "the vision and aspirations of constitutional republicans" like Collins and Arthur Griffith, who founded the original Sinn Féin in 1905.
Announcing plans to commemorate the founding of that party, to which not only Fine Gael and Sinn Féin traced their roots but also Fianna Fáil, Mr Kenny said: "One hundred years after the founding of the original Sinn Féin party, the current users of that title dishonour the memory of the founding fathers of Sinn Féin through their association with the IRA and its criminal network, that stretches the length and breadth of this country and spreads even further afield in its attempts to disguise its operations."
Fine Gael plans to hold the Sinn Féin centenary event at the Mansion House on November 27th, focusing on the contribution of Griffith, who also co-founded Cumann na nGaedhael - the forerunner of Fine Gael - with fellow pro-Treaty Sinn Féin TDs.
The initiative, being spearheaded by Fine Gael TDs Dan Neville, Jimmy Deenihan and Liam Twomey and Senator Fergal Browne, follows a series of centenary events organised this year by Sinn Féin - including a controversial rally at the GPO.
Mr Kenny was speaking as guest of honour at the unveiling of a new organisation aimed at preserving the memory of Collins, and archiving records of the revolutionary leader who was killed in August 1922.
Senator Noel Coonan, president of the Collins 22 Society (www.generalmichaelcollins.com), said it sought to ensure "no leader of a Fianna Fáil government" would succeed in deleting Collins and Cumann na nGaedhael from history.
He said attempts had been made to downplay Collins's contribution to the founding of the State and "we all know who was behind that", adding that some would say his biggest mistake was "to spring de Valera from Lincoln jail".
Among those in attendance were members of the Collins family, and 104-year-old Comdt Seán Clancy, the last surviving member of Collins's Officer Corps.
Cooley Distillery was also present, giving details of a new whiskey carrying the "Michael Collins" label which it planned to sell in the US.
Mr Kenny quoted Collins's vision of an Irish nation that had "sufficient wealth" to allow people be "rich in body, mind and character".
