Michael Collins (Irish leader)

Michael Collins (Irish name Micheál Ó Coileáin; October 16, 1890 – August 22, 1922), an Irish revolutionary leader, served as Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, as Director of Intelligence for the IRA, as a member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, as Chairman of the Provisional Government and as Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. He was assassinated in August 1922, during the Irish Civil War. Members and supporters of the political party Fine Gael hold in particular respect his memory.

The Triple Approval

Under the terms of the treaty, three separate parliaments had to approve the document. The British parliament did so. So too did Dáil Éireann, although its approval was required for political rather than legal reasons: Dáil Éireann, though it had no status in international law and was not accepted as the parliament of Ireland by the international community (as it was regarded by the British as an illegal assembly), nevertheless had a crucial de-facto position as the voice of Sinn Féin members and (as they represented the majority of Irish people) of Irish public opinion. In addition the treaty required the approval of a third body, the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, which constituted the "lawful" parliament of the twenty-six county state called Southern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 (of its 128 members, 124, having been elected, had formed the Second Dáil in 1921, the body with had approved the new Treaty in December 1921). Though few Irish people recognised it as a valid entity, as the legal parliament it too needed to give approval, which it did overwhelmingly (anti-treaty members stayed away, meaning only pro-treaty members — and the four unionists elected who had never sat in Dáil Éireann — attended its meeting in January 1922).

Related Topics:
International law - House of Commons of Southern Ireland - County - Southern Ireland - Government of Ireland Act 1920 - 1922

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