Michael Collins being called a langer isn’t going down too well in Cork

Ahead of Rebel Week in Cork, Michael Collins’ Cork passport is causing a bit of a stir.

You may well remember the Cork passport idea that we reported on a while back. Launched as part of The Gathering, the idea was to issue folks from the Rebel County, or with Cork roots, or anyone that wanted one to be honest, with a special document so that they could lay claim to citizenship of the southern capital. It was all more than a bit tongue in cheek and the ‘passport’ entitled the bearer to discounts in a shops and other places during Rebel Week, which kicks off on October 13. But now, according to the Irish Examiner, a small part of the plan has caused a hitch. One of the most famous sons of Cork, Michael Collins, has a picture of his ‘passport’ printed in the brochure for the week’s activities and some folk are not too happy to see him listed as a langer. Part of the passport format is that all men are listed as langers but Fine Gael Joe O’Callaghan is not too impressed. The paper quotes him as saying: "I was lost for words, really," said Mr O’Callaghan. "While langer is a Cork slang word, it should not be used in this context to honour an international figure. "There is a langer involved in this all right, but the langer is whoever signed off on this." With 100,000 brochures published, scrapping them at this stage will be a very expensive job. A 'row 'designed to attract free publicity for an upcoming event or a genuine beef? We'll let you decide for yourself. Pic credit: Irish Examiner