Dublin, 18 August 2024
Keynote address by Commissioner McGuinness at the Annual Collins & Griffith Commemoration at Glasnevin Cemetery
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
Thank you John for the dignity of today’s event, for that sense of respecting the past, and those who lie here and who in many ways suffered so that we could be here.
So, I begin my words of thanks but also to recognise amongst us the Lord Mayor, the Cathaoirligh of many of our county councils, [public representatives] and the [Collins and Griffith] families.
It is good to see Nora Owen – friend, former minister, mentor, strong woman and great leader.
I also think today of Mary – I worked with Mary Banotti before her time in politics – and I regard that as an honour. Mary served our country with distinction in the European Parliament.
The Collins Griffith Commemoration Society have really put a huge onus, honour and responsibility on my shoulders – but I really want to thank you for inviting me to speak in what is a very sacred place.
Many of us pass Glasnevin, moving to and fro, but when you are inside the gates of the cemetery – the solemnity, the sacredness of this place is strongly felt.
We are reflecting today on two of Ireland’s major historical figures, General Michael Collins and President Arthur Griffith.
On this day of commemoration, we recall how these brave men – brave young men – contributed to our freedom as a nation.
And how they envisaged that freedom would be secured by sound economic policies, growing our exports to the wider world, Ireland taking its place among the nations of the world.
I want to acknowledge and thank the Collins 22 Society for your work in tending to the final resting place of General Michael Collins, year in, year out since 1923.
This careful attention to General Collins’ final resting place is a fitting tribute to the man who made an enormous contribution to shaping our nation.
Ireland today is a strong country experiencing population growth; our economy is strong and the challenges we face – and there are many – are those of success, not failure.
We live in a world that faces many problems, deep divisions and conflict.
We can be inspired to deal with these by reflecting on the enormous commitment and contribution both Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith gave to addressing the seemingly impossible challenges of their time.
Their deaths coming so close together shocked and saddened the nation – a nation that was in the grip of civil war, which divided families and communities.
On August 12th, 1922, Arthur Griffith died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Thousands paid their respects to the President of Dáil Éireann at his funeral five days later.
Alderman W.T. Cosgrave paid tribute to “this great man who laboured for 30 years to achieve that which he scarcely lived to see”.
Within days the country was plunged into deeper crisis with the assassination of General Michael Collins, chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander-in-Chief of the National Army.
His death compounded the trauma of an already grieving nation – thousands came out to mourn his passing – their grief added to by the manner of his death at Béal na Bláth.
I can find no better words to recall that poignant day than repeat those of General Mulcahy speaking at the graveside here 102 years ago: “Our minds are cold, empty, wordless and without sound.”
He spoke of Michael Collins as “a great hero and great legend…who took to himself … the gospel of working for the people of Ireland and of sacrifice for their good.”
I want to say a little more of this sacred place we are standing in.
It tells many stories of ordinary lives and loss.
The Glasnevin Trust is to be commended and thanked for their work in maintaining this important place of rest.
And any of us who has taken the guided tour want to come back again and again to feel and hear the story of our country through the people that rest here.
It is, as you have heard, the solemn resting place of almost one and a half million people.
Including national icons whose grave we stand beside but also ordinary men and women and children, all part of the story of Ireland.
And I mention around 800,000 who perished in the Great Famine who are buried in unmarked mass graves.
Glasnevin is one of the first cemeteries in Ireland – outside of old churchyards – where Catholics could be buried.
Those of all faiths and none find their repose here, thanks to Daniel O’Connell and his work to emancipate Irish Catholics and establish equality among all the people on this island.
And the O’Connell Tower recently renovated. I think underscores his [Daniel O’Connell’s] enormous and unique contribution.
General Michael Collins is known worldwide – his life and his untimely death are well documented.
His contribution to Irish freedom and his vision for Ireland have benefitted all of us present here today.
Collins was a military strategist and a revolutionary.
He was a democrat and a politician.
And as John referenced, he was also a man who fell in love and envisaged a future with his fiancée – Kitty Kiernan – a future they were robbed of.
He had a vision that Ireland would be free and he fought for that freedom, but he also wanted Ireland to prosper.
Pointing out that Ireland’s “strength as a nation will depend on our economic freedom”.
As Minister for Finance, he issued bonds to fund the provisional government.
And it laid the foundations for Ireland’s economic independence and stability.
As a Finance Minister, Michael Collins was a prudent and ambitious.
Balancing the budget and avoiding too much debt were priorities, as was ensuring that taxation levels stimulated economic growth during a very fragile period.
At the time of his death, he could hardly have imagined that Ireland would take its full place in Europe, joining the EEC, today, the European Union, with access to a large single market anchoring our economy and allowing Ireland become a place for significant foreign direct investment.
Like Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, who we have just honoured earlier, wanted Ireland to take its place among the free nations of the world.
Griffith also emphasised the importance of economic strength to underpin political freedom.
He wanted Ireland to be present on the world stage.
He wrote that there should be a representative of Ireland: “in all the great capitals of Europe and its important commercial centres… to keep Europe acquainted with the truth of the struggle (in Ireland) and to secure a profitable market for Irish goods and produce abroad”.
Arthur Griffith looked to Europe for inspiration, indeed the book he wrote about Hungary is mentioned on his tombstone.
Hungarian nationalists inspired his policy of abstentionism.
As we saw above his grave, his wife Maude chose to memorialise him with the broken column, a symbol of a life cut short.
And that image should remind us that the work of developing our country, our economy and our society is never done.
We have full employment, we have significant skills shortages in some areas and inward migration is meeting those demands along with retraining and upskilling.
It is sad to see today a very unwelcome attempt to create deep divisions in our society.
Violent protest, threats to public representatives and their families are all too frequent and are unacceptable.
They threaten our democracy, which Collins and Griffith worked so hard to shape.
The ring leaders find their like in the online world, feeding their anger and promoting their warped ideology; ‘masking up to hide their identity.’
If you look to the decades that Collins and Griffith lived through, they were turbulent – full of change, challenge, and huge upheaval.
And indeed, today the world faces huge deepening geopolitical tensions and fragmentation.
Tensions over raw materials – climate change, the overarching challenge of our time, with forest fires, floods, storms and droughts everywhere.
War has returned to European soil with Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
And Europe rightly stands in solidarity with Ukraine.
Events in recent years have demanded a reassessment of our place in the world as Irish and European citizens.
As Europeans we are less naïve today – as we respond to threats from those who do not share our values and our democracy.
Security and defence are now big topics on the European agenda.
Ireland, a neutral country, is increasingly aware that being neutral cannot blind us to gaps in our own security and defence.
And one of my concerns as Commissioner for Financial Stability, is the real threat of a major cyber-attack on the financial system; with all the serious consequences and chaos that would follow.
In today’s world, security and defence is much more than the physical infrastructure of guns and tanks.
We have undersea cables that need to be protected and transport systems that can be vulnerable to attack.
We also need to consider whether Europe relying on the United States to keep our continent secure – without pulling our own weight – is appropriate.
The European Union is looking to further enlargement as a means to secure our neighbourhood and ourselves.
Fifty-one years after the death of General Michael Collins we took our first steps as members of the EEC.
This year marks the 51st year of membership of a union that is founded on values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and human rights.
Upholding these values takes constant effort and vigilance.
Back-sliding can and does happen, and it is important that our democracies recognise that danger.
Hungary in the early nineteen hundreds provided inspiration for Arthur Griffith.
Yet today, there are concerns about declining democratic standards there, a lack of judicial independence and concerns about media freedom.
A newly elected European Parliament, and I acknowledge Members of the European Parliament with us today, will begin their work in September; vetting incoming Commissioners and setting out the political agenda for the next five years.
There is a new political alignment – the Parliament is more to the right than previously.
The new ‘Patriots for Europe group’ of extreme right-wing parties represents the third-largest political group, behind the European People’s Party and the Socialists and Democrats Group.
Political polarisation is deepening everywhere.
Our Europe works on the basis of building compromise, something that General Michael Collins knew and understood – and it is done across a broad spectrum of views and countries.
On the other hand, those on the extremes to the right and left, do not believe in compromise, regarding it as a weakness rather than a strength.
So against that background, the centre must work harder and faster to hold.
We need to strengthen Europe’s single market.
We must tackle our vulnerabilities and build resilience.
I’m reminded of the ambition of Michael Collins for our country, urging people to fund the provisional government and his plans to develop our natural resources and promote trade.
Today the European Union faces many daunting challenge – including how to mobilise the finances needed to invest in a more sustainable economy and society.
We need money for major energy infrastructure and other big projects.
But we know our capital markets today are too fragmented; we lack a strong retail investment culture and our companies in Europe experience too many barriers to accessing capital.
So too often they move abroad when they scale up, taking jobs and growth with them.
It will take strong leadership to reverse that and it is the urgent task of the new Commission.
But I look back and I reflect during a period of severe global economic and financial instability, Michael Collins’ early policies focused on economic and political resilience.
So Europe today must do the same.
Just a week ago, the Olympic Games came to a close in Paris.
And I think it lifted our hearts, and some of our bodies, over that two-week period.
And there was great pride each time the Irish national anthem was played for our medal winning athletes.
One hundred years ago, in 1924, Ireland first participated in the Olympic Games as an independent nation, sending 45 athletes to compete in Paris where the games were held.
This week, team Ireland returned in triumph from Paris – athletes from North, South, East and West – united in their determination to excel.
I want to quote Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, who remarked that despite all the tensions in our world today, athletes from over 200 countries came together, living peacefully under one roof; respecting each other, even where their countries are divided by war and conflict.
Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith in their time strove to build an enduring peace so that Ireland would grow and prosper.
But they did not live to experience peace and prosperity, even if they laid down the foundation stones.
We remember with gratitude the sacrifice they made ‘for the country they loved’ and that they had huge ambition for.
But most of all today, and they are here with us, we remember especially their families.
And I had the honour of meeting many of them before the ceremonies today, who are lucky, in many ways to be part of that story but also unlucky that they had to lose somebody who could have made even a bigger contribution to our country.
So I acknowledge your presence and I’m sure, even if it is over one hundred years ago, I think that sadness is there and I can see it etched in the faces of those whose eyes I look at.
So I thank you for being here today, I thank you for the honour of addressing this solemn occasion and I thank everyone who has made it a fitting tribute as it should be to President Arthur Griffith and General Michael Collins.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
Source – EU Commission