Tánaiste criticises Sinn Féin for 'never trying to understand' the principles of Griffith or Collins
And Fellow Picture: Duggan Griffith, Arthur A Gareth Memoration Treaty The Tánaiste Michael Collins, Signatory Varadkar Td Laying During Chaney/collins Eamonn Wreath For Leo
The Tánaiste has criticised Sinn Féin for "never trying to understand" the principles of Arthur Griffith or Michael Collins.
Speaking at the 100th graveside oration for Griffith and Collins at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, Leo Varadkar said that the current Sinn Féin party has used the name of the movement founded by Griffith without standing for the same inclusivity across the island of Ireland.
Arthur Griffith, the founder of the Sinn Féin party, led the delegation which signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921 and has been described as the “father of the nation”.
The current Sinn Féin party did not release a statement on the centenary of Griffith's death last week. Mr Varadkar said:
"Griffith’s vision of Ireland was broad and inclusive, and he met with unionist leaders because he knew that the starting point for any discussion of our shared island had to begin with 'fair play for all sections and understanding between all sections’ — principles as relevant today as they were 100 years ago. This was not a narrow nationalism."
Mr Varadkar said that Griffith was committed to equality and had, at one point, horsewhipped a newspaper editor.
"Griffith was also a champion of equality, as scholars such as Professor Colum Kenny have shown, backing the cause of women’s suffrage and giving women a platform to publish in his newspapers.
#CollinsGriffith100 https://t.co/MLlImcxQ6W
— Collins/Griffith Commemoration Society (@ColGrifSociety) August 14, 2022
"He could also be fierce in defence of those who were wronged. When a newspaper published a disgraceful and sexist attack on Maud Gonne, he was jailed for horsewhipping the editor."
The Tánaiste said that both he and Taoiseach Micheál Martin will attend the commemoration of the death of Micheal Collins at Béal na Bláth next week, something he said was "unique" and would show that civil war politics had ended.
"The leaders of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil — the two political parties which emerged from the shattered political movement founded by Arthur Griffith more than a century ago — will come together to pay tribute to Michael Collins, and the Ireland he did so much to create.
"It will be a powerful statement about how far our politics has come, the wounds which have been healed, and a reminder that the bold prophecies of freedom 100 years ago are still being fulfilled.
"At Béal na Bláth I will pay tribute to someone who has always been a personal as well as a political inspiration and whose example continues to guide me and so many of our political family."
The Centenary Collins-Griffith Commemoration at Glasnevin Cemetery was the first major event in a week of events marking the death of the two men 100 years ago.