Punishing Dundalk FC for a fan flying a Palestinian flag is devoid of any logic.

Punishing Dundalk FC for fans waving a Palestinian Flag during a match against Croatian side Hajduk Split is a gross example of selective myopia. The town is reeling, and there are damn good reasons why. 

The size of the fine is maddening and the club can ill afford it. To compare, Villarreal were fined €12k when someone threw a banana at Dani Alves; an action designed to hurt and offend, and it did. The waving of a Palestinian flag by Dundalk FC supporters was designed to do neither, and it didn’t. 

It should be noted that Dundalk FC were fined for two offences, one for an inappropriate flag and the other for standing in the stadium. The latter comes under health and safety which is taken very seriously: In a highly comparable case from earlier this year, Bayern Munich had part of the stadium closed for fans standing. They too were issued with a fine, €10k, for inappropriate flags. How the fine is proportioned between the two offences will be interesting to see. 

But I’m struggling to see the logic behind issuing the fine at all. I am no UEFA, LOI, FA, ETC... aficionado; but it doesn’t take one to see the myriad of comparable situations that have not incurred the wrath of footballing authorities.

The road between Dundalk and Glasgow is a well worn track. A small army makes the regular pilgrimage to matches of varying importance and follow them across Europe. I’d dare say, if there were as many committed Dundalk FC supporters in Dundalk as there are Celtic supporters, club finances wouldn’t be taking so hard a hit. And in the bags of every platoon that travel to Celtic games are the tricolours that those of us watching at home use to spot the Irish in the crowd. And if Celtic were fined for every tricolour...well you can start to see the argument that this was a politically motivated fine. 

And it’s not just a Dundalk or Celtic thing; from what I can see flying a national flag as a signal of solidarity is part of the fabric of football support. Since the news broke about the fine social media users have been quick to point to many other instances of national flags flying as signs of solidarity with something or other. There are so many it hardly seems an uncommon occurrence. That’s why I’m struggling to understand how UEFA have acted to issue a fine at all.   

There is already a strong belief that the problem is that flying the Palestinian flag was politicised, whether it was the fans that flew the flags in the first place or UEFA’s disproportionate response that really introduced that political question remains to be seen. The weighting of the €18k fine between the two offences could be telling in this regard. 

I don’t view the flying of a national flag as an overtly political act; the national flag does not belong to the government, but to the people. They are visual signifiers for where someone is from and if we know the country represented, we might know something of what that country has experienced. It is not a description of an individual or even a group’s political, religious or any other opinions. 

It is not clear to what degree the conflict in Gaza has played a part in the fine or its scale, if it did at all. But considering the size of the fine and so many other situations when flying a national flag went without comment, it seems likely. But, there is no logic in presuming that the flying of a national flag is an antagonistic act based on recent conflict. If you follow that logic then every tricolour flown would be viewed as an anti-British act, or the flying of a Union Jack and Stars and Stripes would be anti-Iraqi, and so on until presumably, hopefully, someone realises how foolish this line of thinking is.  

There are examples where UEFA have issued fines when a national flag has had a political slogan on it, or when it has been used in a way that is intended to cause offence to the people of that nation.  Celtic were fined €50k last year for a tricolour with Bobby Sands on it being flown at a match against AC Milan. Earlier this year Russian-side Zenit from St Petersberg was fined €15k for fans burning a German Flag. The German Football Association was fined €25k when a neo-nazi flag was flown at their Euro 2012 match against Denmark.

However, it is difficult to find examples of national flags being flown in isolation, without some sort of potentially offensive slogan or action that has incurred a UEFA fine. 

€18k is a considerable sum for the club. There are already calls for the fans to dig deep and help pay the fine. But it would be a stomach churning response for the town raise funds for this fine and not for the countless resource-starved charities and community groups that desperately need money.

So if UEFA do not revoke the fine, in the face of every other national flag that has appeared at a UEFA match, despite issuing lower fines for worse acts and what appears to be their ignorant and illogical presumption that flying a Palestinian flag in Dundalk was designed to inflict harm or offend, then let’s be clear and determine exactly why they are punishing anyone at all.

Masculinity versus Make-Up: In a period of flux, how big an impact will cynical advertising be likely to have ?

When David Beckham’s bulging Armani advert was posted on billboards and busses earlier this year it caused quite a stir. Some complained it was gratuitous while others just delighted in the spectacle of it all. But a quick glance at magazines and TV screen shows that there was really nothing unusual about a toned man displaying muscles to shift a few units for the sponsors. Yes, the male body has been commercialised.   

The advertising of men’s grooming products is on the up and only the finest specimens are chosen to advertise them. Even skin tone, defined muscles, chizzled jaw’s, intense eyes and a heavy brow are the common features that men are seeing every day. And it’s not just in models and movies, news readers, TV presenters, politicians, rock stars and footballers are all do a stint in the make-up chair before making public appearances. With the increase in the quality of our TV screens anyone who stands in front the camera stands to have every imperfection exposed.

If it is true that celebrity trends trickle down to the increasingly primped and pruned masses, then in coming years we are likely to see generations of men incorporate the application of make-up into their daily routine.

By Mimi Haddon Getty Images

The men’s cosmetic industry is thriving; companies like Clinique and L’Oreal have finally struck gold on a hereto untapped market and it’s an easy transition for them to make. To a large degree, the ground-work has been laid. For over 100 years cosmetics companies have employed the finest scientists and experts to brew potions and lotions to suit a wide variety of skin types and individual feature needs. It’s a simple rebrand, repackage, change of marketing strategy and hey presto it’s ready to roll out.

Many men rebut projections for the future of the sex. Some argue that because the male ideal physique is traditionally rugged and burly that these marketers cynical play on male vanity will not work. But they would be missing the point - the aim is to convince that these qualities will be enhanced, making them more striking, more sexually appealing and more affirming of masculinity.

There is an art in applying make-up and its greatest successes are the most subtle. No one is suggesting that men will start utilising the rainbow of eyeshades to match their manbags any time soon. Men’s cosmetics are more tactful; it is about covering up blemishes and the use of shadow to highlight the contours of the face. The product ranges of the most popular men’s lines like Calvin Klein and Clinique are all geared towards shine correction, concealment and enhancement. They have not yet dipped into the more decorative items.

The state of play is changing, but perhaps, not as quickly as cosmetics companies would like. The men’s fashion industry in the UK is now worth more than €25bn a year and rising; men’s cosmetics in the region of €870m.

The main buyers of ‘guy-liner’ and ‘manscara’ are the under 24’s and the market is expanding.  Beauticians are increasingly offering their services to men, there are hundreds of YouTube tutorials of how to achieve the no make-up look and – in short men are plugged into the beauty trade.

As fourth generation feminists continue the battle over unrealistic depiction of perfection having a distorting effect on young women’s body image – the question is what effect are these paradigms of manhood having on young impressionable men? 

The simple answer would be - it’s making them more conscious and concerned about their appearance. Not such a bad thing really, well not yet anyway. The industry has not yet reached the destructive proportions that marketing to women has had but the method of delivery is the same. Convince you that your appearance is inadequate and offer you a quick-fix solution.

The question becomes are men somehow immune to the influence that the exposure to images of perfection that populate the media? How will men fair when their insecurities are turned against them and the pressure to look a certain way becomes the norm?

One of the areas where it will really hit is when it comes to employment.  When men start to lose out on the jobs front because they are not aesthetically up to scratch, how will they react? There are host of recent surveys by recruitment companies that say a clean shaven, well groomed candidates is far more likely to gain employment than one that is not. The pressure increases when you suspect you are suffering personally from societies' ugly side.   

When we talk about pressure that is put on us to look a certain way, it is worth remembering that much of the pressure is self inflicted. While personal hygiene and general grooming are always welcomed and style and self-confidence celebrated, there is no pride in falling prey to astute marketing and succumbing to the pressures of insecurity and vanity that has been assimilated into ‘femininity’.  It is hard to detach, but it is not impossible and the result can be more rewarding.  

Nothing is constant and just as femininity has changed and adapted through generations, so too will masculinity. But this time, what it is to be a man is being reshaped to fit in with our evolving cultural values in a context where most of the major pitfalls of marketing influence are as obvious as the billboards that promote it.  


First published in Seamus Magazine June 2012

Turning 30 will always be a milestone, even if the road it's on changes.

“Age is just a number, it doesn’t really mean anything,” assures a friend. And yet here we are discussing how to celebrate my 30th Birthday. And besides, she can easily say that, she’s not turning 30 for another 10 months.

Planning these celebrations inevitably leads to questioning what exactly is so great about this particular anniversary. It’s a milestone, the passing of every decade is and although these annual inevitabilities only carry the significance we attribute them, leaving your twenties behind and entering into your thirties does seem to carry some extra weight. 

My family are the first to start commenting on it; the things I should know, own; wear and “not be at” now that I’m “turning the big three-O.” All said in that jokey way where the “but, seriously” is silent. My friends tell me to pay no attention; I take to the internet for solace. 

“21 is the new 30” reads a headline. Relief; But it’s not true, because turning 30 is something more, it is a passage into maturity.

When celebrities, particularly women, turn 30 the media mark the milestone with interviews and commentaries asking how they feel about it, what it might mean for their look and their career. And when our time comes we end up asking the same questions of ourselves. In the spotlight or not, the preceding months can contain a mixture of excitement and anxiety; and with all this talk of change it hard to keep the issue at bay. 

 Anne Hathaway and Beyonce recently turned thirty, and both gushed about the experience. They saw it as a badge of maturity and were happy to enter this new phase. Being 29 is an odd age in a way; you’ve done so much and are practically 30 without the title. Although saying I’m in my 20s is technically true, I don’t feel entirely honest, it really only feels about 10% true.  

However, some celebrity stunners like Kim Kardashian have spoken of their age anxiety. Psychologists Anne E. Barrett, Cheryl Robbins in Florida State University identify three main sources of age anxiety; fertility, declining attractiveness and health. But it is the latter two that cause the most distress and women suffer more of it than men. 

I don’t usually make a big thing of my birthday, but I have to concede that it does feel like the ending of an era, and it would be a shame to not hold a funeral for my twenties. 

I’ve decided on a simple celebration, close friends going out for dinner and then to the local late bar.  And instead of asking myself, what am I going to wear? I’m asking what I can wear?  Does my hemline have to drop an inch or two? Easy on the eye-shadow? 

 For all but few, by 30 the inherent, vibrant beauty of youth has passed. The beginning of a battle against the signs of ageing has begun; close inspections of foreheads for wrinkles, and eyes for crows-feet increase. And I can’t help but being more captivated by those pseudo-scientific terms that anti-ageing creams throw at you. 

Beauty experts say that prevention is better than cure. There’s no cure for wrinkles except Botox or surgery and it’s too soon for that. But it’s time to pay attention and start a routine that will keep it at its best, damage to skin will not be so easily repaired now. Heavy make-up ages you too, so the older you get, the older it makes you look. So from now on, less means more. 

Health-wise turning 30 is a pivotal point, especially for smokers. A recent study in the UK shows that women can cut the risks of tobacco- related death by 97% if they quit before 30. I stubbed my last cigarette out years ago but everyone should do some form of physical activity, and it needs to be tailored to age. Those that do tend to have lower mortality rates. 

For over 30s the World Health organisation recommends either 2 ½ hours of moderately strenuous activity or 1 1/2 hours of intense activity a week; and that is just for the minimum maintenance. There's much more work to be done if improvements are to be made and to delay middle age spread.  It might be time to pick up the pace on my nightly walks and start a new hobby or two.

In my twenties I created an image of who I wanted to be by 30; and like me many people created this image of the future in the boom years, basing it on projections of never ending opportunities. The only way was up. Life as a 30-year-old now is quite different to how most people who spent their carefree twenties riding the Celtic tiger thought it would. 

Laughing about how unrealistic our expectations were at 21, my nearly-30 friend confesses “I thought I would walk straight into a well-paid job after college and planned to be earning about €50k a year by the time I hit 30. But at least graduating at the dawn of a recession has taught me not to plan too much, and just focus on enjoying life and being grateful for what I have.”

So I didn’t shoot up the career ladder and instead of weekends in Europe and trips to New York I’m grateful for a few pints and later turning a friend’s kitchen tiles into a dance floor. And it’s difficult not to feel a little disappointed and frustrated at times.  

Your twenties are fun and can be wonderfully carefree by comparison to what comes later in life. But the experiences you have in these glory days should strip you of your naivety and prepare you for what is to comes next. So having seen Ireland, friendships, relationships and jobs go from boom to bust and back again over the past ten years, as well as promises from my mother that I will see it again someday, I feel more knowledgeable, capable and confident that I can cope with whatever comes my way. 

I head out the night before the big day, and half-way through my birthday celebration, my friend hands me a big leather book – a photo album of me, my whole life and so many of my friends had contributed to it. I was overwhelmed, not just at the thoughtfulness of the gift, but because looking through those photos I realised that most of the great things that happened to me were totally unplanned, unexpected and completely off course; and that some of the hardest times have made me stronger, smarter and better prepared for the future.        

As such I’d know this all along, but only really felt it then; and my thirties really began to feel more like a blank canvas, now standing on a sturdier easel. 

And no social-guillotine fell when I hit 30. There is still frivolous fun to be had, wild nights out and duvet days. There’s just a little more work to be done on the serious side of life and with the knowledge gained the results are more successful.

In general, there are signs that things in Ireland are picking up. But even if it doesn’t, at 30+1 month years-of-age, I can see how much I’ve learned, how much better I understand the world and how to navigate it. And I’m looking forward to the next ten years now I’ve an idea how much more is to come and that I’m prepared to make the most of it. 

They’re the best years of your life I’m told. And I believe it, they could be now that I know what to do with them. So now I’m telling my 30-minus-a few-months-old friend not to worry; that age is just a number, but if she thinks about it, it is one of the best.   

The last letter of a condemned man is a sad thing; a last letter undelivered, is tragic.

There is something about someone’s final words, the last messages they leave before they die, that are uniquely poignant. For most of us they are the only windows into the mind of one immediately facing what comes to us all, death.

They are the insights into final thoughts, the most deeply and long-felt emotions; the last chances to set old wrongs right and send messages of love and comfort to those who will grieve. The last letter of a condemned man is a sad thing to behold, but a last letter undelivered, is tragic.  

This year the final letters of executed prisoners, Jimmy Melia from Dundalk and Thomas McKeown from Bellurgan, made their way back to Co Louth; but 90 years too late and their intended recipients, Melia's brother and McKeown’s mother, never got the words of comfort.

Patricia Marmion, a relation of Alphonsus Marmion who was to deliver the letters in 1923, travelled from America to bring them closer to their intended destinations. It is hoped that descendants of the families may come forward and the messages of Melia and McKeown will, in some respect, finally make their way to their families.

“I am as happy as when I was christened,” Melia wrote to his brother; McKeown told his mother he was only going on a “long journey"; words that could have brought solace to the families who would mourn them.

They were young men, well liked, caught-up in a civil war, and whose deaths caused widespread grief. Copies of the letters are on display in the Louth County Museum, but their origin is in January 1923, in an Italianate Gaol, where two men awaited execution and another was to go free.

Thomas McKeown's letter to his mother who never read it.

The journey that brought Melia and McKeown to pen their final letters in a dank cell in the Dundalk Gaol is sketchy with records lost, memories faded and some parts untold.  

For almost two years Civil War, caused by the Anglo Irish Treaty, tore Ireland apart and its legacy is still seen in Irish society today. Civil war is a cruel master: capital punishment was reintroduced by a provisional ‘Free State’ government in September 1922, the war not yet won. It was reserved for those who engaged in terrorist offences and would be handed down after trail by military tribunal.

Thomas McKeown, an anti-treaty man and thought to be a member of the Irregulars, was found in possession of firearms; 20 year-old James Melia was charged with a similar offence having been found with arms at Dowdalls Hill, Dundalk, Co Louth. The ‘terrorists’ were arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. These condemned men spent Christmas in jail, and on January 12 1923, four months before the war came to an end, Thomas McKeown was shot by firing squad. Ten days later on January 12, Melia met the same fate.

Their deaths caused much outrage and sorrow: “perhaps the most poignant feature of the executions at the time was that three of the lads were barely out of their teens. Besides, all of them had been extremely popular and their deaths under such circumstances, saddened everybody no matter what their political views were,” reads an article about the executed men.  (Dundalk Democrat October 18 1924)

The first to face the firing squad was Thomas McKeown. On the night before he was to be shot, Thomas wrote to his mother. He asks her not to be sorry for him as he will be with his father in heaven and promises to watch over her. "I suppose all who know me will feel sorry for me but poor little James I fear will feel it the most. I wish yous all the best of luck one and all of you," wrote Thomas. He didn’t spend the night in the dark after he'd finished writing, he asked for a gas light to be brought in so he could spend his last hours speaking with God. 

Six men were executed in Dundalk Gaol that January, Melia was among the last and would have heard the shots that took his friends. James Melia, Jimmy to those that knew him, wrote to his brother: “Well old sport, there is not much you can do for me only pay Joe Murray 2/- I owe him. Then I will clear with the world.”  

Jimmy Melia's letter to his Brother written January 21 1923

A young man with faith, Melia seems to have made peace with his fate: “please don’t worry for me. I received the Last Sacrament of the church and Fr Kerr was with me for a couple of hours and I am as happy as when I was Christened. I am only going on a long journey and I am only going to meet my poor mother & father & Sheila we will be able to be together in a happier land waiting for you and Paddy,” he wrote.

Both men spoke of their reconciliation with god, and promised they would be waiting for their loved ones in Heaven. The men wanted their families to know their souls were safe, and that they would see them all soon.

“Do not be sorry for me for I will soon be with my Father in heaven and I will watch over you while you live. The longest life is but short so you will soon be with me,” wrote Thomas McKeown.

Their families never read their final words, and for a time, they went without their bodies to bury too. The Government of the day only returned the men’s’ bodies to their families in October 1924.  Their burial was one of the most renowned events in local history, one that has been seen at many civil war funerals since.

An article from the Dundalk Democrat at the time describes “the scene as of the most extraordinary occurrence to which Dundalk was ever treated.” As the two men and four others were buried three volleys of shots were fired from revolvers as a gun salute, in response the nearby Military rushed the mourners with bayonets extended and a graveside gun-fight ensued, with hundreds caught in the crossfire.

As the men were laid to rest to the sound of gunfire and panic, their last letters, their calls for prayers and to fight on, the words of comfort for the families who stood by their graves were en route to America where they would stay for the next 88 years.

 20 years old Jimmy Meila bids a final farewell to his brother, Peter. 

Alphonsus Marmion was freed from Dundalk Gaol sometime after the men’s’ deaths and took the men’s letters with him. Here again, the story breaks down, little is known for certain and there is much room for guessing:

What is certain is before arriving in Dundalk Gaol, Alphonsus had been imprisoned in Newbridge, Co Kildare for 10 days. He had been found using a knife to make a ring out of a royal coin and was arrested for disfiguring the Kings Coin. He prized the instrument of his imprisonment dearly and passed it onto his son, Harry who also treasured it too, passing it back to a niece in Ireland not long before he died.

The descendants of the Marmion family gathered together to see the letters passed to Louth County Museum, but even with so many memories gathered, Alphonsus’s journey and the letters, is unclear.

Some of the family remember being told that Alpholnsus was associated with bombing of the Dundalk Gaol on July 26, 1922 by anti-treaty factions, freeing more than 100 of their comrades, including Frank Aiken. Many of the men had been recaptured. (Incidentally the bombing of Dundalk Gaol is an astonishing and gripping story in itself – more to come on this) Alphonsus’s name is not in the registry at Dundalk gaol at the time but it is still believed that he was in prison with the men when they were executed. Another thing is certain, that Alphonsus, who they knew would leave prison one day, was given Melia and McKeown’s letters with instructions to deliver them to their families.

Melia and McKeown were executed in January 1923 and it seems certain that Alphonsus had the letters from then to the day he left Ireland for Liverpool in 1924. The Civil War was over only in name, in the hearts of many it raged on and the scars of war were raw still. There may have been safety concerns, some of the family suggest he had gone into hiding in the area before fleeing for his safety. Nothing is known and the stories that have emerged are different and incomplete.

But what no one knows is why they were never delivered. Alphonsus did not disregard the letters; he kept them safe and secures all his life. He did not keep them secret either; his family who visited him in America knew of the letters, a few were allowed to see them, fewer again to handle them.

With his death, much of the story passed away with him. But his son, Harry, had the same reverence for the letters his father had and he too kept them safely. In 2008 Harry Marmion passed away, his wife, Patricia, thought that it was time the letters returned home. Patricia, their daughter, Elizabeth and granddaughter, Niamh, brought them back to Ireland, to Dundalk, home.  

Even with much of the descendants of the Marmion family in one place piecing the puzzle together, only snapshots of the past emerges and much of the story is supposed. These final words, unread by those that mattered most, are among the sorriest of letters to read, their story incomplete, but what is clear is that they are steeped in tragedy and saddest parts of their tail are yet  untold.

Thomas Mc Keown’s last letter the night before his execution

13^th January 1923

My Dear Mother,

Do not be sorry for me for I will soon be with my Father in heaven and I will watch over you while you live. The longest life is but short so you will soon be with me. All you can do now if to pray for me as my soul may be waiting at the gates of heaven for your prayers. I was at confession tonight and will be at holy mass in the morning and also will receive holy communion which will be offered by Rev Father McKeown Administrator Dundalk and Eamonn Donnellan P.P. H. Town for the welfare of my soul so I feel quite happy and fully reconciled to Gods holy will. Indeed I would not be better done for if I were at home. Father McKeown has obtained permission to have the gas lighted in my cell all night so I am not going to bed. Instead will spend the night speaking to god in whole presence I shall be before this time tomorrow.

I suppose all who know me will feel sorry for me but poor little James I fear will feel it the most. I wish yous all the best of luck one and all of you. I shall see you no more; But let none weep for me when I am gone for it is for Ireland and Ireland’s freedom I die. And it is also the holy will of god. And you my comrades, pray for me and remain true to the faith and to the I.R.A. And I will pray for you and Ireland in Heaven.

So now, Good night, and Good-bye

Forever.

Jimmy Melia’s Last Letter

Executed on Monday 22^nd January 1923 in Dundalk Prison,

Dear Brother,

Received your cigarettes sweets & oranges and I am very thankful for them. Well old sport, there is not much you can do for me only pay Joe Murray 2/- I owe him. Then I will clear with the world. Well Peter, please don’t worry me I received the Last Sacrament of the church and Fr Kerr was with me for a couple of hours and I am as happy as when I was Christened. I am only going on a long journey and I am only going to meet my poor mother & father & Sheila we will be able to be together in a happier land waiting for you and Paddy, Nellie, Maisey, Frank and James.

Well Peter I am thankful to almighty god for is kindness to me and my pals for giving us such a long time to prepare before we go to meet him.  Remember me. To all my old pals and give them my best regards and tell them to say a prayer now and again for me and don’t forget to say one yourself. Well Peter, I might to have saying that and know you will pray for me because you loved me as a brother as I loved you. Well Peter, I think  I shall come to an end trusting that they Almighty God in heaven will be good to us as I am sure he will and also to you and all my pals.

I am ending up now until we meet again in Heaven, So keep your heart and fight  for the old cause till it’s won.

For dearest of Brothers, your loving Brother

Jimmee  XXXXX

“Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” – Cady, Mean Girls.

French maids, sultry secretaries and no doubt a few virginal Anastasia Steele’s will all be making appearances this Halloween Night. But for many  men and women putting together a Halloween costume is less about the scare factor and more about the sex factor.

After the unprecedented success of 50 Shades of Gray, this year women in particular are likely to be as confident as ever to display their sexuality. One of the most remarkable aspects of the phenomenon was it was women bringing sex into everyday life as they read the book on trains, cafe and lunch break. Just a quick dose of arousal before it’s back to the grind stone. And that is what Halloween is all about.

This year it started when Kim Kardashian tweeted pictures of herself shopping for a Halloween Costumes in L.A., all of which were chosen to extenuate her ample assets “Rawarrrrrr!” she teases, “Shopping for Halloween Costumes.” Seizing the opportunity the tabloids ran with photo galleries of top 10 sexy celebrity Halloween costumes. And right on cue, feminist blogs began the annual demonization of the women to don the Risqué outfits and those who promote them. They talk of the hyper-commercialisation of Halloween and how sex is used to ‘sell’ it in the same way it’s used to sell just about everything else. 

But this is just another calendar date in the sexualisation is slavery versus sexual empowerment debate which has been raging among women since they first realised that showing a bit more leg can sometimes get them ahead in life.  A worthy, but heavy debate, and its Halloween- surly time to let loose and have some fun?

Yes, Halloween, like everything else in western society and been sexualised for commercial gain, but unlike Mrs Clause costumes that would make a French maid blush or Easter’s Playboy bunnies, Halloween remains rooted to its ribald history and at least in this respect – nothing has changed. Old customs find new ways of expression and it would appear especially at Halloween. Even the elaborately carved pumpkin began as a humble turnip, scooped out to create a simple lantern.

Initially as autumn harvests were brought in, people took stock of what they had prepared for the winter and then they celebrated by praising gods of harvest, fruits and seeds, the gods of reproduction- and it was sexy then too. Halloween has a long and fractured history with origins in the world’s pagan Harvest Festivals and is generally celebrated in some format wherever autumn descends.

Even when early Christians rolled all these festivals into one 'All Saints Day' it was regularly celebrated with costume parades that descended into wild parties and licentiousness. Up to the mid-18th century it was celebrated in rural areas with ritual fertility rites and cities erupted in carnival-style parties.

With the emergence of Victorian morals, Halloween became less public and more a private, family holiday. Costumes became more demure, homemade, and it became an event that was largely focused on children. But, it wasn’t long before opportunities to shed the daily obligations of manners, humility and chastity were seized upon by adults too and Halloween could scarcely escape its rather virile origins.

By the turn of the century children celebrated the ghouls and ghosts that emphasised the pagan and the Gothic. Meanwhile adults were inspired by the emerging pop culture and started to use Halloween to emulate the sirens of the silver screen and an excuse to show a little more flesh than was usually acceptable. Then when Hollywood started making heroes for kids, they adopted their guises at Halloween too.

By now the deconstruction of this strict moral code is almost complete with a particularly rapid decent in recent times and we regularly see displays of and everyday outfits designed to titillate and excite. Raucous parties fuelled by alcohol and lust are a standard weekend for many. But at Halloween it has an added Oomph! as the feast-day continues to invite modern revellers to draw on its origins to inspire costumes and capers.

So perhaps what we are seeing at Halloween is simply all the layers of traditions past piled on top of one another, from trick or treat to the humble origin of the carved pumpkin as a turnip. Bonfires harking back to pagan times are still lit to ward off evil spirits with effigies of Guy Fawkes thrown on top.

And so it would seem that the costume parades of the All Hallows were bound to find a place in modern society where we still celebrate bounty and are partial to a carnival; where the call to emulate screen sirens is in the daily papers and we still need an escape from the daily rules and routines.

The classic benefits of the Classics

30/01/2013

By Niamh Kirk

Waves of modern publishing phenomenon like 50 Shades of Grey are adding more books to reading lists, but the growing virtues of Classic Literature could be set to topple the pile.

At first they may appear irrelevant and dull compared to some contemporary classics and modern bestsellers. They may bring back memories of school years spent grappling with antiquated language and Victorian etiquette which can be alien to a teenage mind.  But reading the pioneering novels of western literature is proving to be more beneficial to contemporary readers than their original audiences.

Classic literature helps boost brain-activity researchers from the Science and English Departments in Liverpool University have found.  The challenging prose of Shakespeare and Wordsworth triggers more electrical activity in the brain than the same texts written in modern language.

Using scanners, researchers observed the brain activity in volunteers reading the works of authors like The Bard and Thomas Hardy. The results showed that their brain lit-up when they encountered difficult phrases or unusual language. Prof. Philip Davis who worked on the research found that the syntax locks into, shifts and modifies established pathways in the brain. It triggers moments of refection and helps with self-understanding.

He says the research is still in process but is looking to the effects of authors like Charles Dickens who he believes have a similar effect.  Another phase of the research will look at their therapeutic benefits.

So, not only can the Classics help make us smarter, they could prove to make us happier too. And, there are also indications that the Classics really do make for a good read, they stimulate the brain and they encourage you to read on.

Despite being bumped further down the all-time bestsellers list by Da Vinci Codes and rampant 20-somethings they continue to top must-read lists the world over.  They retain captive audience whose brains are lighting-up, and reaping other rewards too.

For the past three years the Gutter Bookshop in Templebar hosts a monthly classics bookclub that has not only been full since its inception, but has a waiting list crammed with members eager to join. Getting involved encourages members to read the books they always meant to but never did. “Sometimes people need a little prompt to read the classics,” says owner Bob Johnston.

The group just took advantage of an extended Christmas beak to tackle Alexandre Dumas’s Count of Monte Cristo. For Valentines’ Day they are reading Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre.   

“The themes are still relevant and capture your imagination. True love, or being hard done by, those themes carry; and mixed with a great story make a great read,” he says.

They earned their place in the cannon due to their accessible and engaging narratives as well as their exposition of universal themes.  And because of this, most avid readers have at least one classic they hold close to their heart. ”Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites,” says Christine Mullaney a TEFL teacher whose preoccupation is crime thrillers.

“It’s not stuffy; it’s about Female self worth, faith in personal beliefs, and overcoming societal requirements. Family ties, sisterly bonds, fatherly love, and of course the realisation that outward pride and conformity does not always mean inward conceit and unpleasantness.”That’s a lot of life-affirming messages from one novel published in 1813.

In libraries they are still in high demand as new generations joining find their way to the classics section. There are arguments that the Classics are not the best introduction to reading for younger people, but many libraries host additional classic sections specifically for teenagers and find they too are keen to gain the knowledge of the canon and escape to the foreign country that is the past.   

Younger people will take interest in the big literary sensations like Harry Potter and Hunger Games says Mr Murphy, Acquisitions Officer for the six libraries and two mobile libraries in County Louth. But this doesn’t distract from their literary heritage. These phenomena act as a gateway to the Classics. “People who read will come to the classics eventually,” he says.

But it is the older readers that cause the spikes in demand for a classic in libraries and bookshops. Brought on by the entertainment industry’s frequent revision of the past; the classics are mined for good and relevant story ideas for big and small screens and are ever-poised to reenter popular culture. And it is these adaptations, although not always as loyal as they could be, help keep classic literature alive and well.

So, while the Gutter's bookclub were in Marseille, 1815, following young Edmund Dantes and that accursed letter from Napoleon, cinema audiences were being transported to the same year, where only miles away convict Jean Valjean was meeting a Bishop.

The industry around ‘Les Mis’ the musical has sustained interest Victor Hugo’s classic but the release of director Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables spurred a surge in reprints and rising sales.

However, according to the County Louth librarians TV adaptations in particular stimulate a return to the original. The 2012 BBC version of pre-WW1 novel Parade’s End by Ford Maddox Ford being the most recent to lure viewers from screen to page. 

Referring to the Nineties adaptations of Jane Austin’s novels, Mr. Murphy, said that this is why she weathers so well. It helps dispel prejudices that the classics are drab. “When it’s on TV it reaches people who wouldn’t think of picking it up,” he says.

And despite being long deceased, the cultural gravitas of the authors can still send sales figures upward according to publishing industry ratings company, Nielsen Bookscan. “Dickens had a strong year in 2012 helped by all the media attention around the bicentenary of his birth,” says Nielsen BookScan researcher, David Wailte.     

Now new mediums are bringing the heroes and heroines of classic literature back to life. Graphic novelists are turning to the classics, giving them a whole new dimension and fresh perspectives.  Taking advantage of public domain books, authors from Bram Stoker and Mary Shelly to Leo Tolstoy and James Joyce have all been given a graphic makeover and gained legions of fans.

The Classics have even been 'zombiefied.' The parody novel, Pride Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith who credits Jane Austen as his co-author is also being made into a film.

When expensive copyright goes out, classics are in. As well as giving contemporary creative industries a free reign with the text, the Classics are also the cheapest books on the market, saving big readers small fortunes. There are hundreds of websites hosting freely downloadable copies of out-of-copyright novels.   Project Gutenberg was the first. Set up in 1971, the volunteer-led digital archive’s aim is to encourage distribution of their 44,000 free public domain literary works.

Tens of thousands of people visit the site daily to get a free read, and they are mostly going for the classics. In the past month alone more than 112,000 Charles Dickens, 92,000 Arthur Conan Doyle and 85,000 Mark Twain novels have been downloaded. Hugo’s Les Miserables is currently being downloaded more than 10,000 times daily. The project and its spin-offs get millions of hits daily. It is safe to say that the classics have secured their places on future digital bookshelves.

There is more going on between the covers of the works in the old literary canon than we might have supposed. And it might just be time to ignore the hype surrounding the next big literary release and put one of these free, brain-boosting, and beloved by many novels to the top of the pile. 

The last turn of The Wheel of Time: Book 14 - Review

23/03/2013

Suspense has been building for 23 years, since the first book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series was published in 1990. For this fantasy-epic’s legion of fans, the release of the fourteenth and final instalment, Memory of Light, is bittersweet, the last journey to a magic world, the final spin of the wheel. 

 Jordan personally completed eleven volumes, but died unexpectedly in 2007 with his finale unfinished. His widow, Harriet, later chose emerging fantasy writer, Brandon Sanderson, to complete her late husband’s work.

The story follows Rand al’Thor, a farm-boy-come-sorcerer and his companions as they battle the evil force tearing apart The Pattern of Life. Only Rand can stop it, but he must bind together warring nations while battling The Dark One’s minions – The Chosen. The preceding thirteen hefty installments have all been leading up to this, the final showdown. 

The climax of this elaborate fantasy was always going to be a mammoth undertaking. An entire continent has been galvanised for war and there are a litany of minor plots to conclude. Stringing together the various fronts in a battle on this immense scale, while balancing the central confrontation between Rand and The Dark One, has proved too much for the substitute author.  It is disappointing and is a gaudy capstone to one of the genres most celebrated titles.

It is disjointed from the previous titles which were credited for taking the time to shape the everyday complex motivations and emotions of the main characters. This however is all action; from the very first chapter The Last Battle rages and continues through the entire 907 page behemoth. However there is no narrative in chaos of this carnage. The story relentlessly lurches from one onslaught to another, from catastrophe to peril, and at times is disorientating.

The 189 page central chapter, 'The Last Battle', hints at a change of pace or a focus on the heart of the contest, where Rand finally confronts his advisory. But it is no different to the rest of the book which is arranged in short passages focusing for short spurts on the multiple clashes. While it makes the overall read more digestible, it also means there are no extended action sequences, just snippets of the chaos.

As with any fantasy it all comes down to a face-off between good and evil, here Rand and The Dark One. The fate of the world for eons to come stand at the edge of a knife, a powerful ancient evil must be destroyed; but compared to many of his other fantasy-hero counterparts, Rand doesn’t have that rough a ride. 

And it is quite a let-down; a lot of time has been dedicated to the drumming up of Rand’s horrific fate, but it was oversold, and underwritten and the result unfulfilling. And this not the only example of seeming broken promises: characters, that many readers will have developed expectations around their implied certainty of glory in battle, take important but passive roles. 

In previous books the dedication to the characterisation of the various protagonists has been lengthy, too much in some cases; but has added a great deal to their authenticity. But in Memory of Light the richness and complexity has been diluted. Some fans may like these new glossy versions of the people they know and love as well as a friend, and will delight in seeing their coming of age. But after so much dedication to endowing them with the virtues and vices that made them so real, it seems a shame that the final products of their development are Disney-esque portraits.

The final farewell to The Wheel of Time seems hurried and a little too eager to please. In many ways Sanderson was beholden to the series army of fans, ‘Team Jordan’. They are the major stakeholders in this series; they are not afraid to remind the author and publishers who will make or break it. Not all will be happy with their friends’ fates. 

The epitaph of this grand saga is most keenly anticipated by those who have been bewitched form their first venture into Jordan’s world. But, the series has been optioned by HBO who adapted George RR Martin’s series Song of Ice and Fire in Game of Thrones to much acclaim. A movie of the first book is also reported to be in pre production. The Wheel of Times may turn again, and stands poised to become the next fantasy epic to emerge from the niche to engross new and unsuspecting audiences.


By Niamh Kirk

Stepping from stage to screen, Les Miserables.

30/01/2013

As a medium, theatre and cinema have been weighed against each other since the first actors stepped off the stage and on to the silver screen. But rarely are the two so directly comparable than with Tom Hooper’s Hollywood treatment of stage show sensation, Les Misérables

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There have been 61 film adaptations of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, and despite being arguably the better medium to showcase this epic, none have matched the success of Herbert Kretzmer’s adaptation of Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel's stage musical. For more than 25 years ‘Les Mis’ has surpassed any of its onscreen counterparts in terms of box office success and the cult following it commands.

Hooper brings the musical to the big screen free from the confines of the theatre and takes the opportunity to show fans much more of Hugo’s world. Not just in terms of setting, but also by offering a much closer look at the characters and a more personal experience. 

He filmed the solo pieces live on set in one sequence and because of this you still get the onetime-only performance feel that will resonate with fans of the stage show. There are arresting moments when shots are momentarily out of focus or oddly framed and it adds a raw, real-time quality that complements the gritty atmosphere.

During these performances, the actors are not lost in the vastness of an empty stage with their inner turmoil’s emanating from largely the music and vocals alone. Here, however, we see Hugo’s characters in the true depth of their personal hells and the sets are meticulously constructed to his vivid specifications. The physical and emotional decay of Fantine in her grotty corner of a brothel and Valjean’s crime in the humility of the Bishops home is far more palpable when you’re brought into the room with them.

Anne Hathaway’s Fantine is more vulnerable and defeated as she has no need to retain the sense of composure a stage performer must to deliver the mighty, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’. It is during these solos that it sounds quite different to the musical but the quality of the performances coupled with the intimacy the closeness it affords, gives audiences a more authentic experience of their misery and hope.

It is easy to see why Hooper refused to make this film without Hugh Jackman in the lead role as the convict seeking redemption, Jean Valjean. Jackman is a veteran of stage musicals and film alike, and it shows. His lonely battle of conscience in ‘Who Am I’ is graphic and emotionally charged. The anguish of Valjean is much more clearly seen, if more quietly spoken.

However, Russell Crowe’s Javert is disappointing; he clunks through the lyrics and embodies mostly his stoicism and little of his complexity that should mirror Valjean’s. The fact that some of the rhyming couplets in which the lyrics are composed have been changed jars the ear and strikes discord with Javert.

It was inevitable that in the move form stage to screen some of the vigour in the ensemble pieces would be lost. The reverberations from a hundred strong cast booming ‘Do You Hear the People Sing’ charges an audience.

The big choral numbers are still thunderous, but can be undone by such a simple thing and
something one would never consider in a theatre, the volume. It needs to be loud; the intensity of the insurgence will be somewhat deflated if the songs of rebellion compete with the rustle of crisp packets.

However, how the various scenes that comprise the ensembles are linked broadens the narrative and compensates. We see it all, Javert plotting in the police headquarters, as Valjean plans his escape, all the while behind the barricades Marius agonises over Cosettee. The subplots no longer share the stage, but set in their different location and it enhances the sense of the plots intricacy.

It is an intense two and half hours. The film, like the musical and book, is an emotional deluge. But not endless, there are uplifting numbers; the rambunctious Mater of the House by Helena Bonham Carter and Sasha Baron Cohen as the Thénardiers. As well as the cheeky and charming introduction to the ‘Second Act’ by Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche who is reminiscent of lovable rogue, The Artful Dodger in Oliver. 

Both theatre and cinema have virtues the other can never reproduce, only compensate for. Hopper has a powerful foundation in Victor Hugo’s classic, and another in the musical which has almost upstaged it. This adaptation will be enjoyed by fans of the stage show for its return to the gloomier roots of its illustrious stage success, and its more authentic experience of Hugo’s masterpiece. And newcomers will get an insight into lure of Les Miserables, whether written or sung, that has captivated so many

By Niamh Kirk

The ghosts of protest past haunt the Irish Press

17/04/2012

On a busy weekday afternoon Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton visited the Marshes Shopping Centre, Dundalk, County Louth to launch a jobs fair. As she began her speech a group of gathered protesters began to heckle and jeer growing so loud and disruptive the seasoned politician abandoned her speech and left, protesters in tow.

Afterward Minister Burton said that the protesters had given Dundalk a “bad image,” fellow Labour Party member, Colm Keaveney TD described them as “Neanderthals.” In turn, the protesters were forced to defend their choice to use the event to stage a demonstration arguing that Ministerial visits are so few that they are often the only times dissatisfaction with the government can be openly displayed.  

There has been much questioning of why the Irish did not get caught up in the waves of public demonstrations that seemed to sweep the globe in 2011. Commentators were perplexed as to why the Irish did not take to the streets and cause civil unrest in the face of an apparent loss of sovereignty and the introduction of controversial austerity policies. The main explanations that emerged focused on the residue of Victorian values in society, or the apathy that a decade of luxury has installed in the national psyche. 

There are without a doubt a whole host of inter-related and inter-disciplinary causes that contributed to the Irish being largely passive viewers as the Occupy movement, the Arab Spring, Los Ingndatos, and Greek’s took to the streets in waves of public demonstrations. However, the true root of Ireland's 'failure to launch' is down to its fractured relationship with a violent history and a weariness from decades of trouble in the North which can be seen most acutely in Ireland's media

Ireland stands today having unsuccessfully swept its past under the carpet; it is a nation uneasy with its turbulent history of civil unrest and troublesome neighbors in Northern Ireland; and it is in this broad context that the people of Ireland choose the mechanisms by which they confront their government. The Irish are predisposed to avoiding methods of protest that have been tainted by historical revision and a fear of association with violent republicanism. 

When choosing how to protest the ghosts of troubles past and present guide the way.    

Think Tank

Collective memory is a complex, social process in which instrumental and symbolic struggles by different groups in the collective wrestle over definitions of the past (Prager) the purpose being to bind the individual members together- strengthening the collective. Because of this preoccupation, the past comes to impose itself on the present. It exists as a sort of haunting presence and it finds expression in the cultural practices of the day. But Ireland has lost the facet of protesting and causing disquiet from its cultural expression and leaves the population without a powerful tool in driving cultural and social change.

On the surface of it Irish history is punctuated with great examples of how outspoken heroes stood up to foreign and domestic oppressors for the good of the many–The Flight of the Earls, The Easter Rising, and the Suffragettes etc. But the vestiges of pride and appreciation for these aspects of our history of disruption have been sullied by Civil War, Partition and decades of unrest in our estranged sibling up North.

The Revisionists of Irish History, in their efforts to reveal the truths of our past, perpetrated a negative view of nationalism and all that is seen to embody it. When the resurgence of protests began in Northern Ireland in the 60’s, the response of the Republic’s government was to reconcile the nation’s violent history and outspoken origins with its struggle with the growing militant-nationalism in the North. A state-formation narrative emerged, which facilitated a ‘statist-histography' (Regan)

Herbert Adams describes the process: “In their eagerness to prevent the gruesome past from haunting their future, well meaning social engineers seek to create ‘a common history’ between hostile groups.” The assimilation of southern nationalist identity with the state was a political achievement, in that it culturally ostracized the more unruly factions in society and delegitimized their policies and principles.

This leaves the modern-day Irish population with very little by way of current celebrated revolutionaries, positive protesting role models or events commemorative of the achievements of Ireland’s politically assertive past. There is an element of the post-colonial syndrome of apology and shame for this type of behavior. French philosopher Ernest Renan noted “for national communities as for individuals there can be no identity without remembering.” Memories however, are malleable and affected by the trappings of the post-colonial personality and revisionists. These are the historical legacies that help shape current attitude to large-scale political demonstrations.

The Good Friday effect

The signing of the Good Friday Agreement marked a real opportunity for Ireland to emerge from its murky past, a chance to put it behind them and move on. But the form that this New Ireland would take was not unaffected by its recent turbulent history. While forgetting, or historical error as it was for Ernest Renan, can be vital in the maintenance of communal solidarity, the effect of a recent traumatic past can overshadow the present and install a need to respond to it.

In responding to a difficult past a culture can either define itself in relation/response to the past or by insisting on its irrelevance. Some have embarked on the politics of forgetting, of ignoring parts of its history that it is uncomfortable with, the consequence of which is a limitation in the historical cultural practices that have been a feature of a society for a long time, which are carried on into the future. 

In his dealing with the macro post-war Europe, Tony Judt was concerned with the price that was paid for the deliberate and sudden disconcert for the immediate past.  He offered this a one of the major consequences: “One was the ways in which the memory of that experience was distorted, sublimated and appropriated bequeathed to the post war era an identity that was fundamentally false; dependent on the erection of an unnatural and unsustainable frontier between the past and present.”

The Good Friday’s Agreement and the peace it brought was celebrated, as was the opportunity to sweep the troubles under the carpet. But this ‘false identity’ is untenable as Ireland is still a nation that has failed to truly be comfortable with its own history of civil disorder and was compounded by the desire to be seen as different to those who instigated it. So what happens when the facade crumbles in the face of these junctures?

With all this in mind one would imagine that when protests do occur, this fear of the social unrest seeping in from the North would materalise, and it does. One example of this came in 2010 when Gardaí expressed fears that republicans would infiltrate economic protest groups and subvert them and turn them to the perpetrators of civil unrest. A headline in the Irish Independent read ‘Gardaí fear terror groups will recruit economic protesters.’ What this, and other examples like it demonstrates is the presence of an endemic fear that protest of any kind is vulnerable to being hijacked by the violent republican cause.

Shadow of a gunman

Another manifestation of Ireland’s discomfort with its recent past coming into the spotlight was during the Presidential Elections in 2011. Sinn Fein member and former IRA leader, Martin McGuinness’s bid for the Presidency meant the Irish electorate could no longer ignore its recent past. During the campaign it is arguable that the hostility shown to him by many was reflective of a nation trying to put civil disorder behind it but suddenly confronted with one of its living icons.

Despite ambiguity about the length of his IRA membership and the degree of his militant participation, he was considered to be a credible candidate and placed third on the final count, but his campaign was dogged by his association with the turbulent North. McGuinness was endowed with a great degree of influence and credibility in the wake of the peace process. It was acknowledged that he undertook the position of peace-broker at much personal risk. He has formidable reputation as a peace-maker, he has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, and he was celebrated for taking the first steps toward power sharing.  However it was his murky past that overshadowed his achievements in the end. Everyone remembers the bad things.  

One snapshot of this cultural tension was manifest during Miriam O’Callaghan’s interview with McGuinness during the presidential debates. O’Callaghan challenged him on his religious faith asking how he could reconcile this with having been involved in the murder of so many people. Whether you agreed with it or not, the aggressive and confrontational line of questioning and the controversy it caused, was not reflective of a country at peace with its past or one that had moved on once peace descended. There is still very much a chip on the national shoulder and is reflective of a nation at still at pains with its history of unrest.

The relationship Irish people have with their recent history has an effect on the choice of methods selected when attempting to protest against domestic political issues. They display an aversion to association with civil disorder when selecting these methods. Ireland has a fractured relationship with its history and it is within this collective psychological turmoil the reaction to the decades of protest, leading to violence, perpetrated by those who call themselves Irish and acting in Ireland's interests, cultivated this aversion to engaging in similar activities.

Because of this aversion the Irish were predisposed to shy away from the mass protests that occurred in the summer of 2011. Whether the continued success of smaller protests, such as the student protests and those against the septic charges, coupled with the coming Centenary of the 1916 will stimulate a rise in nationalistic pride, and thereafter action remains to be seen. 

But for now, when protesters will take the opportunities they can get to voice their anger and even a small group in a local shopping centre, will meet with criticism and scorn. Unless Ireland clears the debris from protests past, public demonstrations will continue to be an uncomfortable reminder and for many will continue to create a 'bad image.'