I had also decided to buy tickets to attend the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival, but this being Ireland it turned out that there were two! Apparently the directors of the previous one festival and had fallen out and just to rub salt in each other's wounds had organised both of their festivals for the same week. It remeinded me of the witty remark of the Irish writer Brendan Behan who wrote: "The first item on the agenda of any Irish meeting is the split." I saw a number of good productions there ranging from a group of insane Australian drag queens called 'Drags Aloud' to James Joyce's only play 'Exiles' on open relationships, but given a gay twist, which was performed in the James Joyce Centre in a wonderful Georgian house with splendid ceilings. I also visited a wonderful pub called Kavanaghs situated beside the gate into Glasnevin cemetery, which I had not been into since I was at school in the nearby St Vincent's. The interior is wonderful - totally unchanged since about 1890 and is mentioned in several of Joyce's works in connections with wakes after funerals. It is affectionately known in the area as 'the gravediggers pub'.
West Cork was splendid, although I only had time to spend one night in the tiny village of Ballybritain, with my friend Geoff, now Head of History at Cork University, and his partner Celia. Geoff Roberts is a leading historian on the life of Stalin and his era and has just spent several years researching the life of Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet Supreme Commander in World War 2 and who is regarded as the military commander who defeated Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front. Geoff had been to interview Zhukov's wife in Moscow and I think a book is forthcoming soon. He has written books on 'Stalin as war leader' and 'Victory at Stalingrad. The battle that changed history'. Geoff and Celia are living in the former parish priest's house in the village which is directly opposite a huge Marian shrine, complete with statues of the Virgin Mary and St Bernadette. Rather appropriate for the only two self confessed atheists in the village!
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/visitingfellows/07-08/geoffreyroberts/
Returning to Dublin I met up with some of the disaffected former Greens in Ireland, including former MEP, Patrician Mc Kenna, former Councillor, Bronwen Maher and current councillors Pat Kavanagh from Wicklow and Chris O'Leary from Cork, all of whom have resigned from the Irish Green Party over its sharp turn to the Right and role in the current coalition government. They are holding an event in Dublin on June 26th called 'The Emerald Forum' for all those ex Greens and others disillusioned with the stance of the current Irish Green Party. I am also hoping that one of them will be a guest speaker at the Green Left AGM on June 19th in London. There are many parallels between the situation of the Irish Greens in the coalition and the Lib Dems here. Both are locked into their respective deals as leaving would invite destruction at the hands of the electorate. This is why I placed a £10 bet yesterday with a friend that the Lib Dems will see out at least 4 years in the current coalition. The situation in Ireland is so bad that 3 constituencies with no MPs have been left over a year without a by election being called because the government is terrified of losing its paper thin majority in the Dail (Irish Parliament).
The effect of the economic collapse is everywhere visible - empty office blocks and shops to let. Many public servants have had their salaries slashed by as much as 15% and my brother who works for the Irish Times is bitter that he has to work one extra day per week for the same salary. The government drones on that the corner has been turned and that the uplift is coming but as unemployment grows, emigration to Canada and Australia increases - I even saw an ad on a Dublin bus for work visas in Australia. The medicine which the Irish have swallowed is being recommended to all others in the EU and is what the Tories also have planned for us. Indeed many people in Ireland told me that a similar dose would be administered to the UK in the near future by the Coalition. The impact of being in the Eurozone has had a particularly damaging impact on Ireland and several people told me that they questioned whether the Euro would continue or whether Ireland would remain in it. But it seems that like the Bourbons, the Irish have learnt nothing from history. The government still boasts of the lowest rate of corporation tax in the EU, while the multinationals having got their tax breaks up sticks and head off to Eastern Europe. There are many lessons, both economic and political to be learnt from the Irish experience.
A quote from Joyce springs to mind: "Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow."
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