President Michael D Higgins used his inauguration to deliver a speech which fused his two driving passions into a stirring vision of the Ireland he wishes to preside over. It would be a nation where the "seedbed of creativity" not only enriched our culture but also society and even the economy. The new President praised Irish efforts in the realms of progressive idealism and artistic imagination, speaking of "our humanitarian, peace-building and human rights work", in the same breath as those creative achievements which have "helped us cope with adversity, soothed the very pain which they describe so well, and opened the space for new possibilities". ©The Irish Times - Friday, November 18, 2011.
It is my contention therefore that Ireland PLC of whom the President refers to in this instance and its adherents do not profess to an indigenous disorder of personality that permeates the very fabric of contemporary society. Only the illusionists within that realm of elitist art perceived, as industry and a co-joined brown-envelope culture emanate of body-politic will continue to exist in the so-called 'realms of progressive idealism and artistic imagination' of today.
Reference is often made to a golden era in which the island of Ireland had achieved the status of haven if not heaven itself. A land inhabited of Saints, Scholars, Artists and Musicians amid a joyous peasant-class dancing somewhat erratically at the crossroads whilst overtly drunk, gratefully picking turf in-tune to a fascistic ideal of rural-clericalism and/or failing that wholesale lining-up at the national harbours.
The fondness and love of the nation's children was an international by-word for generations amongst those who remained silent of endemic societal, institutional and clerical maltreatment of our youth until exposed by a handful of ordinary, clerical, literary and artistic citizens combined. Most notably the likes of author Paddy Doyle, Fr McGerard McGinnity and Andrew Madden, Mannix Flynn and Colm O'Gorman to name but the illustrious few citizens prepared to speak-out against the monstrous crimes of state and church combined; during that golden era and long since that 'helped us cope with adversity, soothed the very pain which they describe so well?' But unfortunately to this very day their individual efforts have not 'opened the space for new possibilities.' Nor has the state addressed the on-going problematic of child abuse in any meaningful way that will bring forward to eradicate once and for all the circumstance that allows for the continuance of denial such as that afforded by them to 'The Forgotten Maggie's' et ali.
No indeed, the state now relies upon chronology and communal forgetfulness to assuage the crimes of the hidden-past. Despite the plethora of recent exposure of criminality at tribunal no law can be imposed retrospectively ergo the majority of clerical, judicial and social paedophiles and artistic pederasts and child pornographers continue to walk free aided by fiscal compensations in maintenance of residual reputation, religious and state educational pensions and/or arts grant. So to the multitude of so-called white-collared criminals and corrupt politicians will happily live out their existences with state-aid of millions upon millions of borrowed European monies in the given form of state pension.
The irony of those words used in general by President Michael D Higgins in his inauguration speech that of creativity, culture, society, economy and more particularly phrases such as progressive idealism and artistic imagination, our humanitarian, peace-building and human rights work and any action to secure those possibilities were sadly lacking throughout Michael D Higgins former political career. Especially so, during his tenure in the government of the 23rd Government of Ireland 12 January 1993 – 15 December 1994 formed by Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party; as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. Nor his continued presence as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in the 24th Government of Ireland 15 December 1994 – 26 June 1997 this time formed by Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left.
A 'newly formed government' albeit following a number of scandals of 1994, particularly over the beef industry and the alleged mishandling of the prosecution of the clerical paedophile *Father Brendan Smyth. The Labour Party left the 23rd government and, after negotiations, formed the 24th government known as the Rainbow Coalition. Although the term Rainbow Coalition originally referred to a proposed coalition of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Progressive Democrats with Fine Gael and Democratic Left.
This was the first time in Irish political history that a party had left a governing coalition and gone into government with opposition parties without first holding a general election.
*Father Brendan Smyth 8 June 1927 – 22 August 1997 was a Catholic priest who became notorious as a child molester, using his position in the Church to obtain access to his victims. During a period of over 40 years, Smyth sexually abused and indecently assaulted over 100 children in parishes in Belfast, Dublin and the United States. Controversy surrounding this case brought about the downfall of the government of Ireland in December 1994.
Therefore in the light of recent history as the man himself said 'in the same breath as those creative achievements which have "helped us cope with adversity, soothed the very pain which they describe so well, and opened the space for new possibilities" will equally be made redundant in the present 'Rainbow Coalition' of Fine Gael and the Labour Party 2011.
Regardless of any and/or all words President Michael D Higgins used in his inauguration 'to deliver a speech which fused his two driving passions into a stirring vision of the Ireland he wishes to preside over but without one word of his inglorious unstirred visions of his and our collective past?
Addendum: and what of the pecuniary disadvantage of the citizen artist? Well the citizen artist, as ever, will just simply, keep on, keeping on up until THE END; without any elitist state endorsed fiscal pot in which to piss.
©Séafra Ó Ceallaigh 2011
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