Thousands of people gathered over the weekend in Beal na Blath, West Cork, to mark the 100 year anniversary of Michael Collins.
On Sunday, over 5,000 people attended the ceremony to commemorate the death of Michael Collins from an ambush at the historic location.
In a landmark occasion, Taoiseach Micheal Martin made history by becoming the first Fianna Fail Taoiseach to speak at the event.
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Mr Martin was joined by Tanaiste and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, which was the first time leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael made a joint address at the event.
The event is commemorated on the nearest Sunday every year.
The assassination had a huge impact on the development of the Irish state.
The ceremony got underway around 3pm, as thousands of spectators looked on to honour Mr Collins.
Mr Martin said that Michael Collins "deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest Irishmen to have ever lived".
He added: "In his short 31 years Michael Collins made a deep, lasting and positive impact on our country."
During Micheal Martin’s televised address, cameras captured the moment a soldier had a medical emergency and fainted while holding a rifle.
In a video clip from the RTE broadcast that was shared on Twitter, the soldier can be seen positioned directly behind the Taoiseach and the camera catches the incident live.
Mr Martin stopped and turned around to see the fallen soldier as cameras continued to roll until the feed was cut, and immediately turned to capture the enormous crowd.
Soldiers from the Armed forces held their positions as the casualty was attended to by two medics as per protocol.
In the clip, two medics can be seen running towards the soldier who was lying on his front on the ground.
After the incident, Mr Martin resumed his speech and the cameras continued rolling again.
Several viewers reacted to the incident of the soldier, with many sharing their concern.
“Today this young Irish soldier had a medical emergency in front of the nation , and all some people can do is laugh and joke. Shameful behaviour. Respect our Defence Forces”, a concerned viewer added.
A third said: “Yes, the other soldiers hold their positions while the designated NCOs/medics deal with the casualty. You can see them running in at the end.”
While another said: “Fainting on parade is a frequent occurrence. It’s a situation, not a crisis, and that is why there are procedures in place to deal with it. There are even drills on how to march off parade if you are feeling like you are going to faint.”
During the civil war, Michael Collins was on a tour of inspection on August 22nd, 1922.
After a day of touring West Cork, Mr Collins and his party were travelling through Beal na Blath, when they were ambushed by Anti-treaty IRA forces.
He was travelling with a small convoy with around 20 men.
Michael Collins was killed by a direct shot to his head.
That morning, he was spotted by an IRA scout, and an ambush was planned.
In his speech, Leo Varadkar said that the ambush site is a "painful site of memory for so many connected with Michael Collins".
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has described Michael Collins as "the great prophet of freedom".
He says the commemoration at Beal na Blath was an opportunity to reflect on what Ireland has achieved, where we have fallen short, and "renew our determination to do better."
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