 De Valera appointed Collins as Minister for Finance in the Ministry of Dáil Éireann in 1919.Most of the ministries existed only on paper or as one or two people working in a room of a private house, given the circumstances of war in which they were liable to be arrested or killed by the Royal Irish Constabulary, British Army, Black and Tans or Auxiliaries.Despite that, Collins managed to produce a Finance Ministry that was able to organise a large bond issue in the form of a "National Loan" to fund the new Irish Republic.