Tag Archives: Violence

Silence is Violence

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artane-demo-3Today a group of us took to the streets of Coolock at Northside Civic Centre where my motion regarding the history of the Artane Band and the Artane Industrial School was put before the North Central Area Committee. In what can only be described as a gross act of denial only one Councillor voted in favour of the motion. (Cllr Michael O Brien)

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Denial ruled the day. It was an act of shocking violence the deafening silence.  How can it be that the findings of the Ryan Report and the finding of serious Garda inquiry into child abuse, wholesale criminal and sexual violence that was perpetrated in Artane industrial school can be written out of history?
It is a great shame that the Cllrs in this instance chose to keep Ireland and it’s people in the dark and protect the Christian Brothers and their manifestation through the present Artane Band.  The people of Artane and indeed the North Central Area need now to stand up to this shameless shameful act.
The paedophiles and rapists and child abusers will take great comfort in today’s decision by this area committee and its councillors.  While we, the people who experienced this abuse in our childhood, carry a much heavier burden as a result of today’s refusal by the Cllrs to acknowledge the true and proven history of the Artane Boys Band, the Artane Band and the Artane Industrial School.
Like the dark days of the beginning of this journey for justice, we stood alone against the Catholic Church, the Christian Brothers and the orders of nuns.  Sad today, that we stood alone again at the North Side Civic Centre.


We take comfort from the many people, local residents  who we met, all of whom understood our issue and were fully supportive.
We thank you for your hospitality and we will be visiting with you again soon.
Truth and Justice are what we seek.

These two motions below were fully supported last month by all but two Councillors at the North Central Area Committee Meeting. 

Again supporting a true denial of the accurate and true history of the Artane Industrial School and the Artane Boys Band – Artane Band.  History repeats itself in the form of gross denial.  Our lives don’t matter.

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SNAP support Artane Band Disbandment

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 SNAP  (SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS)

snapheader5The group at the centre of the recent Oscar winning film, Spotlight have today issued a statement in support of our motion to have the Artane Band disbanded. www.snapnetwork.org/ 

Barbara Blaine, the founder and president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an international advocacy group for survivors of clerical sexual abuse, has come out in support of a campaign to have the Artane School of Music disbanded.

SNAP is supporting a motion by Dublin councillor Mannix Flynn for the disbandment of the music school, an establishment jointly run by the Christian Brothers and the GAA. The band in its current form wear the original and traditional insignia and uniforms worn by the band from when it started at a time when children attending St Joseph’s Industrial School in Artane were subjected to sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the religious.

Speaking from Chicago in support of councillor Flynn, Blaine said: “I believe that so much suffering and pain has been caused to those who lived through the horrors of the industrial school in Artane. They have been through enough. We should be doing all we can to prevent any further pain and suffering.”

Petition to Disband the Artane Band

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I just started a petition: Disband the Artane  Band.
It is no longer appropriate, with what we now know, about residential institutional child abuse at St Josephs Artane, that this band, should be still in existence, wearing the uniform of that institution – St Josephs Industrial School Artane, and making statements that they are proud of their history when in actual fact, the vast part of that history was engulfed in horrendous human rights breaches upon children, including child sex abuse at St Josephs Industrial school, Artane, where the band was founded.
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We who are the survivors should not have to endure the ordeal of this band in that uniform, parading around Croke Park, or any other public place. This is a constant active reminder of our ordeals and every effort should be made for this to stop.

Our lives, in those institutions, matter. What happened to us matters. We have a right to get on with our lives to recover and to heal. The Artane Band, in its present form, is a major obstacle to that process. No other band of its type would be allowed to get away with what they are getting away with. The band is still under the control fo the Christian Brothers through the Artane Music School.

If enough people sign my petition, we can make a difference.

Here’s a link to the petition: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Awo8W/zoyY/CRT_0
And here’s a link to share it on Facebook: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Awo8x/zoyY/CRT_0

If there’s anyone you know who might be able to help me spread the word, please let me know. Thanks so much — I really appreciate your help!

Kind regards,  Gerard Mannix Flynn
Artistic Director,
Farcry Productions

 www.farcryproductions.ie

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An tAthair Pádraig Ó Fiannachta -Oidhreacht

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Tonight celebrate Culture Night and those who make it.

I was privileged to know, and have some of my work translated by, the magnificent Irish scholar, priest, poet, publisher and sage Pádraig O Fiannachta.  His cultural breath still breathes on this great land of ours and its influence gives life throughout the cultural world.

The text below is a translation from our 2006 work ‘Letting Go of That which you most Ardently Desire’ an artwork that dealt with the issue of armed struggle in Irish history and our recent decommissioning process.

An tAthair O Fiannachta passed away in July of this year into the mythical.

                                                  Ní fheicimíd a leithéid arís ann

gunbutts                                      

 

  The Grip That Binds Us

As human beings we are constantly trying to deal and come to terms with internalised trauma.  Being unable or unwilling to resolve certain issues, we cling even tighter to them and, though we yearn for peace and rest and progress, we can’t seem to let go of that which threatens to destroy us.

What is it like to walk away from conflict, to put your weapons beyond use?  To dwell upon all the years committed to the never ending cycle of fright, fight, flight.  Resentment, hatred, fury and denial all form part of the energy field that has dominated us human beings for thousands of years.
Along with the hardware, these emotions need to be deactivated if the grip that has bound us for generations to armed conflict is to be loosened finally and permanently.

Letting go is always a process of loss, a process of grieving. The dawning realisation that you cannot retake what you’ve reconciled to let go of.  And the final, slow acceptance that it is no longer of service to you anyway.
The grip that binds us is a reflective process which offers participants a chance to engage with the emotional dynamics  that underlie letting go and the emergence of something new.

© Gerard Mannix Flynn

Glas-snaidhm orainn

Bímid, mar dhaoine daonna, de shíor ar gor ar chréachtaí inmheánaithe, agus ag iarraidh bheith réidh leo. Toisc nach féidir linn, nó nach toil linn, fadhbanna áirithe a réiteach, is daingne fós ár ngreim orthu; cé go mbímid ag tnúth le síocháin, le suaimhneas agus le dul chun cinn, ní bhíonn ar ár gcumas, de réir dealraimh, scaradh leis an rud seo a bhíonn á bhagairt sinn a scrios.

Conas a mhothaíonn sé cúl a thabhairt le coimhlint, d’airm a chur ó mhaith?
Bheith ag cuimhneamh gan stad ar na blianta gan áireamh gafa ag sceon agus comhrac, tóir agus teitheamh, teitheamh agus tóir.
Tá fuath agus fíoch, fearg agus faltanas i réim i ngarraí treafa polaitíochta Éireann leis na cianta cairbreacha.

Ní hiad na hairm chogaidh amháin atá le cur ó mhaith agus le scrios ach freisin na mothúcháin úd go léir a nasc sinn, glúin ar ghlúin, le cogaíocht an ghunna – táid le scaoileadh go deo faoi dheireadh thiar thall.

Is geall le cailliúint, le caoineadh, i gcónaí rud a scaoileadh uait. Tuigeann tú de réir a chéile nach féidir leat greim a fháil go deo arís ar an rud ar ar réitigh tú scaradh leis. Glacann tú leis de réir a chéile nach aon tairbhe duit é cibé scéal é.

An glas-snaidhm a cheanglaíonn sinn, is próiséas meabhrach é a thugann caoi dóibh siúd a bhíonn páirteach ann dul i ngleic leis na fórsaí mothaithe is bonn don scaoileadh ar shiúl agus do shaolú na nua-bhreithe.

© Gerard Mannix Flynn
Aistriúcháin – Fr. Pádraig Ó Fiannachta