Michael Collins faced closing window of opportunity to sign 1921 Treaty, says McDowell

Criticism of Michael Collins for signing the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty fails to acknowledge the extremely limited time and precarious political situation faced by the Irish negotiators, according to Independent Senator Michael McDowell.

“

The very precarity of the Lloyd George coalition, and the very real probability of the Conservative and Unionist Party becoming the sole and utterly hostile interlocutor with Irish nationalism – as happened not much later in 1922 – were well known to Collins and Griffith. So were the implications.

Speaking at the annual Collins Griffith Commemoration at Glasnevin Cemetery, McDowell argued that detractors of the Treaty, which established the Irish state but also led to a civil war, did not grasp the instability of David Lloyd George's Liberal government. He noted that Collins and Arthur Griffith were well aware of the "very real probability" of the Conservative and Unionist Party becoming the sole, hostile negotiator with Irish nationalism, a scenario that materialized in 1922.

McDowell emphasized that Collins and Griffith understood the potential for "the substance of Irish independence might so easily have trickled away" if they rejected the Treaty based on its form rather than its substance. They recognized the immense responsibility to establish Irish independence, rather than joining the "long line of patriots who had failed to deliver it."

“

They clearly understood that the substance of Irish independence might so easily have trickled away through the hesitant fingers of Ireland’s leaders if it were rejected by reference to its form rather than its substance.

The senator suggested that Collins and Griffith had a vision for Ireland's modern democracy, and its success in many areas has potentially exceeded their original expectations. The commemoration honored Collins and Griffith at Glasnevin Cemetery, with officials and relatives in attendance.

“

They understood the responsibility that lay on those who had to choose between establishing Irish independence or joining the long line of patriots who had failed to deliver it.