of the Treaty. During this time the republicans became very demoralized and ill-disciplined. But they had to gain strength before announcing independence from Dublin. The debate amongst the anti-treaty IRA command was increasingly rancorous. The bitter divisions split the anti-treatyites into two camps. Two motions were debated at the Army Convention on 18 June 1922. At first the motion to oppose the treaty by force was passed. These men included Tom Barry, Liam Mellows, and Rory O'Connor, who were all in favour of continuing the fight until the British were driven out of Ireland altogether. But one brigade's votes had to be recounted, and then the motion was narrowly defeated. Joe McKelvey was appointed the new chief of staff, but the IRA was in chaos. While he strongly opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, O'Hegarty took a neutral role in the Irish Civil War and tried to avert hostilities breaking out into full-scale civil war. He emerged as a leader of the 'Neutral IRA' with O'Donoghue. This was a 'loose' confederation of 20,000 men who had taken part in the pre-truce wars, but had remained neutral during the Civil War from January 1923. Over 150 persons attended its convention in Dublin on 4 February 1923. By April 1923, O'Malley was imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail. In a letter to Jim Donovan (Seamus O'Donovan) on 7 April he blamed Hegarty for all this compromise and "peace talk". Alleged involvement in the death of Michael Collins It has been alleged by the author Gerard Murphy that Hegarty had a role in the assassination of the Commander in Chief, Michael Collins in August 192,. along with Florrie O'Donoghue and Joe O'Connor. It is alleged that as members of the 1st Southern Division Cork they were actually feigning claims of neutrality but remained part of the IRB in order to set up talks towards peace and the cessation of hostilities at the start of the Irish Civil War. Catholicism Although probably an atheist during the War of Independence, he returned later in life to the Catholic church. On forming the Neutral Group of the IRA in December 1922, he tried to unify differences in the volunteers between Republicans and the Free Staters. He communicated with the Papal Nuncio during the inter-war years in an attempt to have Bishop Cohalan's excommunication bull lifted. Instead he turned to commemoration as a way to earn favour in Rome, with the