Decaying relics of the past
By Eoghan MacCormaic
Standing outside Dublin Castle the other morning,
trying to think of an opening line for this weekly
article, I realised that sometimes there isn't really
anything else to write about except the big show. The
politics. The same as everyone else is writing about.
The statue of Justice above the gates of the Castle sat
immobile, her back to us on the outside and I was
reminded of the saying that the Castle never showed
justice to those outside its gates. The psychological
problem for those of us standing there, protesting, was
that our representatives were now inside the gates.
Could they get justice there?
Obviously, the answer to that was no, since efforts
were underway to drive the Shinners back outside to
where they belonged. With us. Then, once more, Justice
could happily turn her back on all those standing
symbolically beyond the Pale, those whom the Castle
sought to exclude.
It was a bit historic, and it had all of the
connotations of history being repeated - in reverse.
The Dubin Government were now the hosts, the British
and the Unionists the visitors, but suddenly they were
back and seeking to dictate the pace of the process.
Seventy five years was forgotten in a blip. The tape
was in rewind.
Mind you, their understanding of the changed realities
was, to say the least, a bit on the superficial side.
The Unionists decided to take in a spot of Unionist
culture while they were in the capital, and led by a
Trinity Unionist, Wot wot, they headed for Harcourt
Street to view the birthplace of Carson. Hoardings,
sadly, prevented Trimble, Taylor et al from achieving a
clear view of things, and so in the finest tradition of
Unionism they imagined what they were seeing.
The site was a disgrace, by all accounts, and they
moaned that if this was the way the State was treating
the site of the birthplace of the founder of Unionism,
then there was little hope for fair play for them. Ah,
the soundbite and the imagery of it all. The little
Unionist chappie from Trinners, David Christopher, had
a coup and his photo taken with the big boys.
Unfortunately, all was not as it appeared to be and the
site was not so much a derelict ruin as a building
under refurbishment (interior and exerior) with a
preservation order on it to boot.
`It's symbolic that they don't want to preserve
anything connected with Unionism' was John Taylor's
recorded comment. Lamentable. His misportrayal of
reality, that is. As they stood gawking, just two doors
away from the Ceannaras of Conradh na Gaeilge - the
cradle of many leaders from the Gaelic and nationalist
movement in the early years of the century - the
Unionists might have felt a little uneasy. But they
needen't have worried, they were in Harcourt Street,
after all, and Harcourt Street is not only home to the
Conraitheoirí but also home of the Special Branch.
Unionist accusations against the state of `neglect' or
`failing to preserve' symbols of Unionism are
misplaced, however, and if they wanted to view examples
of real neglect of the leaders of the past all they
needed to do was take a stroll across the green and
down to Pearse Street and see the dereliction which is
or was the home of PH and Willie Pearse. Now that's
what I call neglect.
Of course, if their schedule had been too busy they
wouldn't have even had to leave the castle precincts to
experience the state's wilful neglect of the foundation
of the Republic. Their joint prosecution and indictment
of Sinn Féin, on the word of the discredited RUC and at
the behest of the British and of the Unionists was
surely the proof of how readily this state can abandon
its roots, and slip back into colonised mode.
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