[acornlive] WHY2K?
john O'Neill (acornlive@dublinwriters.org)
Sat, 25 Mar 2000 08:31:49 +1200
Thanks to all who commented on my innocent question regarding the
proliferation of "dark" Irish writing, before the thread came off the
bobbin. Of the half-dozen paperbacks which I have found here recently
from Irish novelists, only one uplifted me - "The Whereabouts of Aeneas
McNulty". It was the only story in which the (unlikely) hero, who is
Everyman and woman, prevailed and saved his sanity and simplicity.
We all have our ghosts. Some we cherish as essential to our survival.
Others struggle into our heads in the dark of night and require
affirmative action - look them in the eye, tell them they are too
offensive, rotten and slimy to deserve the light of day and bury them
deeper. Not very PC (psychologically correct), but effective enough to
ensure the continuance of a reasonably happy humanity before Freud.
I was diasporated twice. The first occasion was conventional - to find
work. The second time was as a result of a widely supported campaign by
the then long-serving director of the Abbey to adopt the Irish as the
(only) language of the Irish. This for the purpose of isolating our
Catholic innocence from the depravities of the world. I left (not in
search of the abominations which he hinted at) but with an eye on
openness and freedom. I have always believed in the power of the
individual to choose the healthy from the sick, the good from the evil.
Darkness and depravity may be in fashion but are we to follow or lead?
Let's have a good belly-laugh at the devils encroaching on us - they
can't stand it!
John O'Neill
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