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Article: Michael Collins: His Contribution to Ireland
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 11, 1996
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Neither The Post's review nor the film deals enough with the
most significant and revealing issue on which Michael Collins and
Eamon De Valera disagreed: the likely effects of the treaty with
England that Collins negotiated {"Irish History Through a Haze,"
Style, Oct. 25}. Under its terms, Ireland at last won its freedom,
and a new name, the Irish Free State. It won its own flag, its own
customs service and armed forces, as well as the withdrawal of all
British soldiers from Ireland's 26 southern counties. When the
treaty was signed, the Irish public went wild with relief and joy.
But in the debate over whether elected representatives in the
Dail would ratify the treaty, Eamon De ...