“A MERE youth in appearance... he is sturdy and well built, and full of life, and one of the most cheerful of Irishmen. His black hair hangs carelessly over his brow, and his eyes are of typically Irish blue... His smile disarms one. But in repose there is a strength of jaw and a look of determination which explains how he controlled and directed his men.” That’s a London newspaper description of Michael Collins, who was killed at Beal na Bláth one hundred years ago. Collins did indeed control and direct his men, usually to commit violent acts. He told them to confine their killings to “head shots”, and they did. When the mayor of Cork, Tomas McCurtain, was shot dead in March 1920 by a group of men led by RIC Detective Inspector Oswald Ross Swanzy,. Collins had Swanzy traced to County Antrim and arranged for Belfast IRA man Roger McCorley to shoot Swanzy dead as he passed the Northern Bank in Lisburn. In the early hours of November 21, 2021, Collins’s ‘Squad’ shot dead twelve men, who were British Army or RIC officers. Fast forward a hundred years and Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are jostling to have a selfie taken beside the great man – or at least be seen at the spot which marks where Collins died. On this centenary of his death, the Beal na Bláth commemoration ceremonies were attended by Leo Varadkar, the leader of Fine Gael, and by Micheál Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail. The joint commemoration of Collins is seen as marking the end of the division between the two parties that emerged from the Irish Civil War. Why are Varadkar and Martin doing this? Varadkar declares Collins to be his source of inspiration: “The entire life of Michael Collins was a profile in courage. He had the courage to fight the British Empire despite overwhelming odds and to force it to the negotiating table. He believed that Ireland could become a free, independent and democratic state when few believed it possible.”