Was Michael Collins liked by the English?

Answer 1

The British Government had disliked Michael Collins during the Irish War of Independence as they considered him and all the other I.R.A members to be murderers. However the British population in general had a great interest in Collins because although the name was quite well known, nobody knew what he looked like. Therefore when the Irish delegation that included Collins went to London to engage in treaty negotiations, there was a great excitement with the general British population. After Collins and the rest of the Irish delegates agreed to the Anglo-Irish treaty, Civil War broke out in Ireland. The Regular army were the army that were pro-treaty and they were led by Collins. The Irregulars were the anti-treaty army and they were led by Eamon De Valera. The British government supported the Regular army as they were pro-treaty so they gave the Regular army armaments and ammunition. At this point in time the British population would have preferred Collins to De Valera. To conclude, although the British government didn't particularly like Collins, they were able to co-operate peacefully up until the time of Collins' death during the Civil War.