Sir, - Kevin Myers in his Diary of November 16th appears chastened by the Michael Collins film and even flattered that the name Myers is given to the young man who killed Collins and it's understandable that he was a bit peeved about not being invited to the press screening. He can rest assured, however, that if Collins himself was handling the invites, he would, in his all-embracing humanity, have seen to it that he was invited, together with Cathal Brugha and Ian Paisley.
Although chastened and in awe of Neil Jordan, it's apparent that Myers has not changed his opinion of Collins. I expect this has more to do with his inbuilt prejudices than the film's restricted interpretation of the Collins persona, without having the dimensions of the supreme organiser and achiever, his vision and culture and the man Sir James Barrie described as "blazing with intelligence".
Myers writes that Collins "wanted to use violence". Collins was driven to engage in violence with the British intelligence machine against the backdrop of 1916 executions by the creative fire of the artist (as distinct from a dictator), using his enormous talents to forge a better country for the people of Ireland.
Some years ago his niece, Una Mulhearn, had this to say to me about what Collins wanted: "My uncle Michael wanted nothing for himself, only that the small farmers could live with dignity and not. be beholden to anyone". Una, at 86 years of age, is the closest living relative of Collins, the daughter of his sister, Dail Deputy Margaret O'Driscoll.
She epitomises the Collins characteristics of selflessness and indomitable purpose. Despite the affliction of blindness since her sixties, a triple heart bypass and the shock of two street muggings in recent years, she made her way, with the assistance of two young relatives, from a nursing home outside the city to a paid seat at the premiere in the Savoy Cinema. Here she endured a climb of two-and-a-half flights, which proved most distressing, and then waited an hour for the stars to arrive.
So if Kevin Myers feels ignored by Neil Jordan leaving him off the invitation list, spare a thought for Collins's closest relative, the little girl he gave a parting kiss to the day before he died, sitting uninvited in the crowd. She couldn't see the film but for the record, she thought Liam Neeson sounded "a charming man". - Yours, etc.,
Moyne Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.