Maynooth YFG
to honour Michael Collins
Monday 2nd October at 7.00pm in CS1

Michael Collins was just 31 years of age when he died yet in that brief lifetime he took it upon himself to do all that he could to transform the country that he loved. He helped secure our National soverignty, signed our first Treaty of Independence and oversaw our transition to Democracy. Yet today in 2006, most people aged 18-35 take no active part in politics. They leave it to somebody else and hence the issues affecting them are ignored. As an organisation composed of 15-30 year olds, NUI Maynooth YFG will use the example of Michael Collins to show what can be achieved if the youth of Ireland channels its abundant energy into political life. If we use our votes wisely, articulate our views we too can bring about the great changes that we yearn for.

YFG will be joined by former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes and Gerry O'Connell FG Vice-President and Hon Sec of the Collins 22 society to honour the memory of the legendary Corkman.

All are welcome, wine to follow.

Alan Dukes and Maynooth YFG Members at the Collins Rally   

Michael Collins rally a Success

Maynooth Young Fine Gael's first event of the year was a well attended Michael Collins rally held on Monday 2 Otober in CS1. The branch were delighted to invite former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes and FG Vice President Gerry O'Connell to the university to discuss the life and times of the legendary Cork man. Collins has always been a source of inspiration, through good times and bad, for members and supporters of the Fine Gael party and the Maynooth branch were proud to respect his memory.

The large gathering listened attentively as Alan Dukes gave a balanced account of Michael Collins's contribution to Irish affairs. He discussed Collins's pragmatism on the North while contending that it is wrong to speculate on what could have happened if Collins had lived. "He died so we'll never know what may have been " stated Dukes. He also pointed out that many British subjects living in Britain suffered the same oppression as those living in Ireland. Dukes argued that Britain was an unenlightened government at the time and Irish Nationalism's enemy was never the British people but the British state. Creating an independent Irish state had been Collins's greatest achievement.

Gerry O'Connell, in his contribution, went on to discuss the Collins 22 society, of which he is a founding member. He told the gathering that this group was founded to give people a forum for expressing their admiration for Michael Collins while another important function of the society was the preservation of Collins photos and documents. O'Connell also discussed the politics of commemoration, listing a litany of failures on the part of successive governments to properly respect the memory of General Collins. He drew particular attention to censorship of a Collins documentary in the 1960s and to DeValera's harsh stipulation that only one member of Collins's family, and no member of the public, be present at his grave for the erection of his monument in 1939. Fine Gael on the other hand had been true to Collins, his associates and allies having gone on to found the party, argued O'Connell.

Following the main contributions, each speaker took questions from the floor. These questions were of the highest standard and each man answered as best he could. A wine reception followed before those of us remaining headed straight for the SU bar!

Maynooth YFG hosted this event so as to highlight the youthfulness of Michael Collins. Like us, he was a young man who sought political change in Ireland. He actively took part in some of the most defining moments in our Nation's history. Gerry O'Connell was first to pick up on this point stating that " being 31 years of age when he died, Collins would today have been still eligible for membership of Young Fine Gael", yet at that age he had already left an enduring legacy still evident in 2006. His youthful enthusiasm was what made Collins so extraordinary. He wanted to bring about change, and he did. Those of us aged 18-30 today can do the same. If we follow Collins's example we will finally have a government that puts youth issues at the top of its agenda!

Mel Farrell

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