Independent TD appeals to Taoiseach to find Dublin site for Michael Collins statue

An appeal has been made to Taoiseach Micheál Martin to find a suitable site in Dublin for a statue to honour Fine Gael hero General Michael Collins for the 100th anniversary of his death in 1922.

Independent TD of the same name Michael Collins made the appeal in the Dáil as he pointed to a “non-political” committee which will “commission, fundraise and gift the statute in the memory of Michael Collins with his bike, similar to the likeness of a sculpture that was erected in Clonakilty 20 years ago”.

All they needed is “for the State to find a suitable site, measuring 2m by 1m, for this fabulous proposed monument”.

The Cork South-West TD said “it’s astonishing, in its own right, that no standalone statute has ever been erected in his memory in our capital in Dublin for the public”.

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He added that the issue must have been raised with the Taoiseach who was in Woodford near Clonakilty on Monday for the handing over by his family to the State’s National Archives diaries Collins kept for five years up to and during the treaty negotiations.

Mr Martin again thanked the Collins family “for presenting such invaluable and primary source material in order that future historians and the general public can access those documents”.

He added that Fianna Fail Cork South-West TD Christopher O’Sullivan had raised the issue during the informal ceremony and Mayor of Cork County Council Gillian Coughlan said the council “was engaging with Dublin City Council with a view to securing a site for such a suitable memorial to Michael Collins”.

Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan, who also attended the ceremony “indicated he is examining that and other issues pertaining to that period”.