Michael Collins is in contention to be elected Britain’s greatest enemy.

The IRA leader is currently second only to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the poll at London’s National Army Museum.

The Cork rebel is currently ahead of Rommel, Napoleon and George Washington.

Only Ataturk, who repelled the Allied invasion at the Daddanelles in 1915, is ahead.

Collins, 90 years dead next year, has polled 800 votes with Ataturk 600 ahead.

The noted rebel leader introduced the ‘flying columns’ during the War of Independence and was a constant thorn in the side of the British forces in Ireland.

The Irish Times reports that the top five military leaders in the poll will be represented by five historians who will speak at an event in the National Army Museum on April 14th.

The main criterion for the poll was that each commander must have led a force against the British in battle.

Voting continues until March 30th on www.nam.ac.uk.