Imagine how much more seriously the average person would take President Higgins’s speech to yesterday’s meeting of Aosdána - and he's absolutely right in whan he said - if he had referred the Irish Water Bill to the Supreme Court, like Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh did the Emergency Powers Bill in 1976.
Also quoted in this Irish Times article about Aosdána's meeting yesterday is Mannix Flynn who, at Dublin City Council's meeting on Monday, voted against the motion calling for the release of the 5 jailed anti-water charges protesters (which was passed in any case). Mr Flynn has yet to publicly explain why he voted in this way.
There’s a potentially quite dangerous disconnect between some in the Arts in Ireland and reality right now. There are those who are all for people standing up, as long as no one actually does, or if it's limited to the crank level of the usual few histrionics. Go about the place pretending to be Maude Gonne, or don a Sean O’Casey style cap and stand outside Leinster House shouting to no one about imperialism, and you’ll be called courageous. But a real movement of the great unrinsed, now we couldn't be having that, could we; it might disturb one's Haiku which makes mention of Lenin in the last line.
The prophets are indeed weeping, and gnashing their teeth just a little bit as well.
And this woman is still in jail.
