The world according to Frank
By Sean O Donaile
- Frank McGuinness BBC1 Tuesday
- True Lives RTE1 Monday
- Cursai Ealiane TnaG Domhnach
- Eurosong RTE Sunday
After recent reprimands from the north west I better
write some nice things about Donegal men and who better
than Buncrana's finest playwright, Frank McGuinness,
featured on BBC1 on Tuesday last.
McGuinness grew up in a background of blacksmiths and
as a child he had already entered the fantasy world,
scripting his ideas on brown paper bags, wherein lie
his ``first stirrings of egomania''.
McGuinness was a UCD academic and his writings were
noted for ``the ability to pick up the pain of others
and sending out their cry for justice''.
This featured in his portrayal of the ``heroic'' shirt
factory women of Derry, in his first play, Factory
Girls, which he based on overhearing the conversations
in his grandmother's home.
It was acknowledged as a tribute to ``exceptional women
operating under desperate circumstances''.
His second play which focused on Derry was the
controversial Carthagenians, which focused on the pain
of Bloody Sunday and the exorcisim of grief that
followed.
It was initially blacklisted by a number of Derry
Councillors after viewing it in Galway, primarily for
focusing on the transvestite character who played a
central role.
However it recieved a rapturous reception when ``on
trial'' in the Rialto theatre, from Mary Nelis among
others, who describes it as ``tremendous, with the
characters representing all types of Derry people''.
McGuinness used the then youthful rock group The
Undertones as a symbol for the resurgence of Derry
people in the wake of Bloody Sunday and their
determination to ``celebrate life''.
He spent a considerable number of years working at the
University of Ulster, where he underwent a considerable
``Protestant culture shock''. The powerful story of the
huge losses the Protestant community suffered in World
War I took possession of him and resulted in the well
known Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the
Somme.
One of its loudest backers was David Ervine, who claims
that rather than celebrating war, it offers an
understanding of sacrifice and futility of war. Ervine
questions ``why the hell it happened'' as does Patrick
Mason who believes ``the story was never told in such a
comprehensive way''.
Similar to `98, many were blinded to the truth when the
Protestant (and Catholic to a lesser extent) working
class were used as pawns in the war games of their
colonial masters.
Less is known about ``Mutabilities'' which raises the
issue of the suffering inflicted by the British. He
states, ``the English have always been touchy about
suffering inflicted on Ireland but should not be
allowed to forget it.''
Likewise the other Frank - McCourt - who was featured
in the documentary The McCourts with his brothers
Malachy, Michael and Alfie, as they reminisce about the
misery of their childhood in Limerick. Most of us are
already familar with their circumstances through the
bestseller Angela's Ashes but the programme tells us of
life after the book, focusing on McCourt's father who
returned after a along absence in 1964. Malachy
described the heartbreak of waiting at the train
station on Christmas Eve as the last of the carriages
emptied with workers home from England. ``The last
carriage would slam and the auld bastard wasn't there.''
In his defence he was deeply affected by the loss of
three of his children but was always a ``mad lunatic''
who devoted his life to the bottle, leaving his family
to survive on a pittance.
Their memories of mother Angela are a lot different but
Frank describes the ``shame I felt when I witnessed my
mother among the beggers at the priest's door''.
Unfortunatly for Angela she married the first man who
was ever kind to her and suffered greatly afterwards.
Malachy describes the street life of the so called
``Laners'' who always had snotty noses, their arses
hanging out through the hole in their trousers and if
lucky enough to live until 13, were given a jobs as
messenger boys.
Laners were looked on as the lowest form of life and
the only time the clergy visited was once a year
looking for money - quelle surprise.
They described the church ``full of Catholics but very
few Christians'' and likewise school was run by ``nasty
old bastards'' The programme, like the book, seems an
effort by the brothers to exorcise their grief and
their story would be very much at home in Frank
McGuinness's stable.
The subtitled Cursai Ealaine is another TnaG gem,
persented by the zany Marina Ni Dhubhain, who
interviewed this week's guest in a train carraige.
First passanger was Clare accordeon player Conor Keane
who laments radio stations' zeal to promote other music
to the detriment of traditional music.
He perceives the Irish as ``thinking what's out there is
better than our own'' due to the colonial mentality of
many. Also featured was the increased popularity of
visual and figurative art.
Gone are the days when your only paintings were of a
stone washed cottage and the Sacred Heart, primarily
among the apartment-domiciled middle classes, who view
art as an investment or a hobby.
Our own POWs, among them the talented Hughie Doherty,
could hardly be described as middle class, but then
again the cultural revival of the republican community
doesn't get much airplay.
Somewhat lower down the pecking order of arts is the
infamous Eurovision, and Ireland bit its fingernails
last Sunday as our favourite Pat Kenny presented
Eurosong. The pre-race favourite was the atrocious
``Make That Change'' penned by Boyzone's Ronan Keating,
where northerners were exerted to ``stop that fighting
and hold hands.'' It would be more at home at a New
Consensus rally, and although well meaning comes across
as patronising. My own favourite was Sean O
Muineachain's racy number Ina Measc, which was the
nearest you'll get to Bob Marley or NWA as Gaeilge.
Unfortunately it came second last and Ireland now has
to wait on tenderhooks to see if we're dumped with
hosting the Eurovision yet again.
Bring back Dana!