#work rss Apple RSS The Irish Times - Debate [p?c1=2&c2=8946263&cv=2.0&cj=1] IFRAME: //www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-M9Q373 * Search * Newsletters * Crossword * Notices * My Account * Sign Out * Subscribe * Sign In [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268923|0|225|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Op inion;cookie=info;] Menu The Irish Times Sun, Jan 17, 2016 ^Sign In Welcome * The Irish Times * News * Sport * Business * Opinion * Life & Style * Culture * More * Video * Podcasts * Executive Jobs * Subscribe * My Account * Sign Out * Sign In * * Opinion * Editorials * Letters * Columnists * An Irishman's Diary * Opinion & Analysis * Martyn Turner By using this website, you consent to our use of cookies. For more information on cookies see our Cookie Policy. (BUTTON) X No shame in laughing at famine satire Rush to condemn a proposed Channel 4 comedy has unleashed avalanche of outrage Sun, Jan 11, 2015, 12:01 Diarmaid Ferriter ‘Is even the idea of a comedy set in 19th-century Ireland such a travesty? Who is to know what could be done with such a notion in the hands of a skilled comedy writer or satirist?’ Above, a special commemorative memorial day walk and wreath laying ceremony at the Famine Memorial at Custom House Quay. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien ‘Is even the idea of a comedy set in 19th-century Ireland such a travesty? Who is to know what could be done with such a notion in the hands of a skilled comedy writer or satirist?’ Above, a special commemorative memorial day walk and wreath laying ceremony at the Famine Memorial at Custom House Quay. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien I did not feel any great shame, over 15 years ago, in laughing at a satirical song about the Irish Famine of the mid-19th century, and I was not alone. Under the title The Potatoes aren’t looking the best, it was sung, or more accurately spat out, late at night at a concert in Dublin city centre being performed by Ding Dong Denny O’Reilly and the Hairy Bowsies, or to strip Ding Dong of his stage name, Paul Woodfull. The repertoire featured other delights, including Spit on the Brits and The craic we had the day we died for Ireland. What one person finds amusing in any satire of Irish history, another might find egregiously offensive. The rush to condemn a proposed comedy by the writer Hugh Travers – what he suggests will be “black humour” set in 19th century Ireland – has unleashed an avalanche of outrage and an accompanying petition to Channel 4 demanding the station abandon the idea. Of course, the words “famine” and “sitcom” appear at first glance to belong as far apart as possible, but there have been too many premature denunciations in the absence of concrete detail, the bare story providing an opportunity for indulgence in a new manifestation of the MOPE syndrome: the Irish as the Most Oppressed People Ever. Historic pieties Is even the idea of a comedy set in 19th-century Ireland such a travesty? Who is to know what could be done with such a notion in the hands of a skilled comedy writer or satirist? I certainly wouldn’t be averse to, for example, David McSavage’s take on 19th-century Irish history given his admirable track record to date in satirising Irish historic pieties and peculiarities; equally, there would be many who would find that prospect abhorrent. The Irish experience of famine has generated satire and comedy in the past. One of Ireland’s most celebrated satirists, Jonathan Swift, travelled extensively throughout this island in the famine-afflicted decade of the 1720s where he witnessed starvation and desperate poverty. This was what informed the outrageous tone of his notorious Irish pamphlet A Modest Proposal, first published in 1729. The suggestion that the impoverished Irish might ease their burdens by selling their children as food for the rich was Swift’s cutting indictment of administrative and moral failure to reform the country. Over 200 years later, Flann O’Brien worked on a satirical novel, never finished, about an American millionaire who sought to prevent more Irish famines and destitute Irish emigrants coming to the US by replacing Irish potato cultivation with a tropical plant called sago. In 1971, playwright Hugh Leonard, in the Patrick Pearse Motel was keen to mock 1960s middle-class pretensions about Irish history and its marketing, with the motel’s restaurant called The Famine Room. Poet Paul Durcan was also on hand in 1987 with the poem What Shall I Wear, Darling, to The Great Hunger, his satire on a middle-class couple preparing to attend Tom MacIntyre’s adaptation of Patrick Kavanagh’s poem at the Peacock Theatre. More recently, Arthur Matthews took a swipe at contemporary crassness in his comedy Wide Open Spaces, which includes a theme park celebrating the Famine, containing a restaurant on a bright pink famine ship. In truth, some of the supposedly serious initiatives regarding memory of the famine have been more farcical than any comedy or satire. In 1998, the year after the 150th anniversary of the height of the famine in 1847, a glossy brochure sought to solicit donations from corporate firms to support charities; in return, the company’s name would be “cast in bronze on one of the many flagstones along the docks of Dublin city”. The companies were told they could “pay tribute to the Great Irish Famine . . . your company name will be forever remembered and immortalised on the docks . . . a place where many left during the famine era”. In reality, this was about corporate advertising to accompany the emaciated human frames depicted in the sculptures on Customs House Key, crafted by Rowan Gillespie and unveiled the previous year. Drumming up business Remembering the famine at that time was about drumming up business; a best-selling “famine diary” turned out to have been fabricated by a novelist half a century after the event, but it was still marketed as history. There was also a party and concert in Cork in June 1997, known as The Great Irish Famine Event, partly funded by the government, which was billed as “a celebration of triumph over disaster”. It included an “apology” from British prime minister Tony Blair for the failures of British government in the 1840s; Blair’s short statement was not delivered personally, but read out by actor Gabriel Byrne. Crassness and commodification abounded as remembrance of the Famine was overtaken by the supposed triumphs of a resilient, changing and economically prosperous Ireland. Farce has already been apparent in relation to depicting the Irish Famine, and not of the Channel 4 fictional variety. Subscribe. More from The Irish Times * Opinion “The takeaway message from its negative poster this week might be that it has ceded control of the narrative to Fine Gael.” Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times Fianna Fáil is changing but not quickly enough * Opinion Soldiers attend Mise Eire. George Morrison’s film showed over twenty years of Irish history, from the 1890s to 1918, through existing archive material. Its soundtrack, an orchestral score by Sean O’Riada, became hugely popular Anne Harris: O’Riada’s epic clash of cymbals became a clash of symbols * Opinion The General Post Office from Abbey St after the 1916 Easter Rising: Royal Irish Academy JT Westropp RIA Opinion: Did the 1916 Rising meet the requirements for a ‘just war’? * Opinion Breda O’Brien: Ultrasound is the biggest enemy of abortion on demand ADVERTISEMENT [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268925|0|170|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Op inion;cookie=info;] ADVERTISEMENT The Irish Times Logo Sign In Email Address ____________________ Password ____________________ [ ] I agree to the Terms & Conditions, Community Standards and Privacy Policy (BUTTON) Sign In Don't have an account? Sign Up Forgot Password? The Irish Times Logo Sign Up First Name ____________________ Surname ____________________ Screen Name ____________________ The name that will appear beside your comments. Email Address ____________________ Confirm Email Address ____________________ Password ____________________ Confirm Password ____________________ [ ] I agree to the Terms & Conditions, Community Standards and Privacy Policy [ ] I would also like to receive occasional update emails from The Irish Times (BUTTON) Create Account Have an account? Sign In The Irish Times Logo Forgot Password? Please enter your email address so we can send you a link to reset your password. Email Address ____________________ (BUTTON) Submit Sign In or Sign Up The Irish Times Logo Thank you You should receive instructions for resetting your password. When you have reset your password, you can Sign In. The Irish Times Logo Hello, . Please choose a screen name. This name will appear beside any comments you post. Your screen name should follow the standards set out in our community standards. Screen Name ____________________ (BUTTON) Confirm The Irish Times Logo Thank you for registering. Please check your email to verify your account. (BUTTON) Sign In (BUTTON) Close Your Comments Sign In Sign Out We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Standards. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or by filling out this form. New comments are only accepted for 3 days from the date of publication. Editorials Guarding the guardians Garda Ombudsman accesses journalists’ phone records The silent victims of austerity Children’s rights: Ireland appears before UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Our Columnists Breda O'Brien Breda O'Brien - Breda O’Brien: Ultrasound is the biggest enemy of abortion on demand Cliff Taylor Cliff Taylor - Election 2016: Get ready to be hit by a digital deluge Paul Gillespie Paul Gillespie - Worldview: Ireland should recognise Palestine if peace talks fail Donald Clarke Donald Clarke - Chief Film Correspondent Donald Clarke: Irish Oscar nods were due to great expectations ADVERTISEMENT [adserv|3.0|826.1|4268924|0|170|ADTECH;loc=300;target=_blank;kvtopic=Op inion;cookie=info;] Letters Crisis in emergency departments French Jews and wearing the kippa Mathematics at third level Women’s rights here and abroad Protecting children online National anthem and copyright law Walking routes and public health Global factors and the economy Investing in rural Ireland Oscar bravo Question Time Question Time: What can be done to address the shortage of Catholic priests? 2:34 Question Time: What can be done to address the shortage of Catholic priests? Question Time: Will Leo Varadkar’s latest plans resolve the hospital waiting list crisis? 1:48 Question Time: Will Leo Varadkar’s latest plans resolve the hospital waiting list crisis? Question Time: Will the Coalition voting pact help to boost Labour’s fortunes? 1:31 Question Time: Will the Coalition voting pact help to boost Labour’s fortunes? Most Read 1 Television: A sugar-crash course in how we are poisoning ourselves 2 Conservative Germany is ‘mad as hell’ over Merkel’s policies 3 Gardaí say remains those of man who died in recent days 4 Bhutan: the price of paradise 5 Isis ‘kills 300 people’ in Deir al-Zor, Syrian government says Never miss a story. SUBSCRIBE Subscribe About Us Policy & Terms Subscribe * Subscription Bundles * Gift Subscriptions * Home Delivery Irish Times Products & Services * ePaper * eBooks * Crosswords * Newspaper Archive * Dating * Ancestors * Email Alerts & Newsletters * Article Archive * Executive Jobs * Page Sales * Photo Sales About Us * Advertise * Contact Us * The Irish Times Trust * Careers Download on the App Store Download on Google Play * Our Partners * Rewarding Times * MyHome.ie * Irish Racing * Entertainment.ie * Top 1000 * MyAntiques.ie * The Gloss * Irish Times Training * Terms & Conditions * Privacy Policy * Cookie Information * Community Standards * Copyright * FAQs © 2015 THE IRISH TIMES For the best site experience please enable JavaScript in your browser settings Sign In ____________________ ____________________ (BUTTON) Sign In Forgot Password? Don't have an account? Subscribe * Subscriber quick links * Newspaper Archive * Crossword Club * IT Sunday * eBooks * Subscriber Benefits * My Account * Sign Out SUBSCRIBE ____________________ (BUTTON) Sun 17/1/2016 * News + Election 2016 + Ireland + World + Politics + Crime & Law + Social Affairs + Health + Education * Sport + Rugby + Soccer + Gaelic Games + Golf + Racing + Other Sports + Women in Sport + Comment * Business + The Economy + Your Money + Companies + Technology + Work + Commercial Property + Comment * Opinion + Editorials + Letters + Columnists + An Irishman's Diary + Opinion & Analysis + Martyn Turner * Life & Style + Food & Drink + Homes & Property + Health & Family + People + Travel + Motors + Fashion * Culture + Books + Film + Music + Stage + Art & Design + TV, Radio, Web + Treibh * More + You are what you read + eBooks + Offers + Jobs + Family Notices + Dating + Competitions * Video + Film Show + New to the Parish + Give Me Five + Feast * Podcasts + Inside Politics + World View + Second Captains + Business + Róisín Meets + Off Topic + The Women's Podcast * Executive Jobs * Crosswords * Newsletters * Notices ____________________ (BUTTON) ____________________ ____________________ Forgot Password? (BUTTON) Sign In Invalid email or password. Subscriber quick links * Newspaper Archive * Crossword Club * ePaper desktop app * IT Sunday * eBooks * Subscriber Benefits * My Account