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little_beloved
little_beloved
25 March 2009 @ 08:49 pm
A Taste of Ireland and Freedom of Speech (or painting)  

Hello, my loves. Yes, I am still alive, but only managing to make it online about once a week at the mo.
Thought I would share a hilarious current news story with you in relation to Brian Cowen (our Barrack Obama/Gordon Browne).
I'm pasting directly from the RTE NEWS website www.rte.ie/news and here, first, is a little guide for some of what goes on in the story.

Taoiseach = Prime Minister/President (pronounced Tea Shock)
RTE = Radio Teilifis Eireann. (Irish Radio and Television)
Garda/Gardai = Police
Fianna Fail = Political party currently in power
Fine Gael = The main opposition political party

If you have a minute, do read. It's very funny.

STORY REPORTED MONDAY: Who sneaked nude paintings of Taoiseach Brian Cowen into two of Dublin's most prestigious museums?

That is the mystery surrounding what could be an act of artistic expression or civil disobedience.

An anonymous donor hung the painting in the gallery of the Royal Hibernian Academy beside the regular collection. When a visitor asked staff about the new nude, it was removed.

'We certainly can't condone work coming in this way,' said Rebecca Gale of the gallery, barely containing her smile.

She added that their open submission show, which opens in May, is the best route to get work onto the gallery walls.

'We'll be keeping an eye out for work coming in this way from now on,' Ms Gale said of the guerrilla tactic.

Another painting of An Taoiseach, this time naked on a toilet, was found at the National Gallery. It hung for 20 minutes before it was spotted, removed and handed over to gardaí.

One woman who saw the nude at the Royal Hibernian Gallery offered to buy it.

'It's reasonably well painted. It's not the worst thing I've ever seen,' conceded James O'Halloran of Adam's Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers.

But the Royal Hibernian cannot sell it because it does not own it.

However, if the painter gets in touch with the gallery, they may just have a buyer - and a lot of questions from the gardaí.


APOLOGY FROM RTE, YESTERDAY: Editor's Note: On the 23 March 2009 Nine News, we carried a report on the illicit hanging of caricatures of the Taoiseach in two Dublin galleries. RTE news would like to apologise for any personal offence caused to Mr Cowen or his family or for any disrespect shown to the office of Taoiseach by our broadcast.

STORY REPORTED TODAY:   A secondary school teacher has been interviewed in connection with the hanging of two paintings of Taoiseach Brian Cowen in two art galleries in Dublin.

The 34-year-old man was questioned by detectives at Pearse Street Garda Station for two hours yesterday afternoon.

He was released without the charge and a file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Gardaí began investigating the case yesterday morning. They identified the painter as a 34-year-old secondary school teacher, who lives in Rathgar in Dublin.

They phoned the man and he agreed to come in to Pearse Street Garda Station to be interviewed.

The man was not arrested and made a voluntary statement.

He also handed over five similar paintings of other senior politicians.
 

It is understood he admitted painting and hanging the two portraits of Mr Cowen on the walls of the National Gallery and the Royal Hibernian Academy.

The garda investigation into the matter was completed in less than six hours.

It is understood the man may be prosecuted for alleged criminal damage after he was captured by CCTV putting glue on to the gallery walls before hanging the pictures.

Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan has branded the investigation a gross affront to freedom of expression and a waste of garda time.
 

Mr Flanagan said it was a waste of resources for detectives to be probing 'what amounted to a practical joke that offended the Taoiseach's ego'.
 

'Today FM has clearly come under pressure to hand over emails about this matter while RTÉ News was obviously browbeaten into a grovelling apology,' he said.
 

'Freedom of expression is fundamental in a democracy.
 

'As politicians, we are frequently subject to unflattering comment and depiction but that is part and parcel of being a politician living in a free society.
 

'The Taoiseach's over-reaction to what amounted to satire is completely over the top.'
 

Fair balls to that teacher, I say. May he live long and prosper!
 
 
Current Mood: happyhappy
 
16 comments | Leave a comment
 
( 16 comments — Leave a comment )
beffeysue[info]beffeysue on March 25th, 2009 10:09 pm (UTC)
Fair balls, indeed! I can imagine the "case of vapors" a politician here in the States would get if he were informed that a nude painting of him, or two, had been "gifted" to a gallery.

No sense of humor!
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 25th, 2009 11:04 pm (UTC)
Absolutely no sense of humour. And do you know, if he had laughed it off instead of throwing a hissy fit, he would have been lauded as a hero! :)
paya slasher454[info]paya27 on March 25th, 2009 10:27 pm (UTC)
LOL! Thanks for sharing this story, now I really want to see the paintings ;D
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 25th, 2009 11:03 pm (UTC)
LOL. I will scour the internet for them. Believe me, Cowen is bad enough with his clothes on!
dickgloucester[info]dickgloucester on March 26th, 2009 01:53 pm (UTC)
LOL!

It always sounds like "Tea Shop" to me, though...
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 26th, 2009 02:38 pm (UTC)
I'll take a Tea Shop over a Taoiseach anyday!
Joanna[info]shiks on March 26th, 2009 03:23 pm (UTC)
That's just awesome!

Also, you should totally make more language guides and teach us :)
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 26th, 2009 03:32 pm (UTC)
LOL. You know, it's only when I go to tell non-Irish people stories that I realise how much Irish language we actually use. It's quite cute, really. Our police force are called the Garda Siochana, which means the Guardians of Peace. Pretty cool! And the Irish for 'Hello' is 'Dia dhuit', which means 'God be with you', and 'Goodbye' is 'Slan leat', which means 'Health be with you'. And thank you is 'Go raibh maith agat', which literally translates as 'You had goodness'. Quaint! :)
m_mcgonagall_65[info]m_mcgonagall_65 on March 26th, 2009 09:13 pm (UTC)
Thanks for sharing! It was humorous, but I was even more intrigued by the Irish words. I have some Irish ancestry, so it's nice to get little glimpses of the culture. I wish I could visit someday!
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 26th, 2009 09:22 pm (UTC)
Yes, it's weird. We're very fond of dropping bits of pigeon Irish into our everyday English speech. And DO visit someday! And we will have tea! :)
starryaugen[info]starryaugen on March 28th, 2009 01:20 am (UTC)
That is too funny. I heard that story reported on NPR (National Public Radio) and they interviewed some museum curator or public official who sounded quite amused by the whole incident. He also called the Prime Minister "jowly" and hinted that he could stand to spend a little more time in a gym. I was delighted by the interviewee's lovely Irish accent and spent the rest of my commute talking to myself in the car, trying to mimic his accent.
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 28th, 2009 11:02 am (UTC)
hehe. It's gotten even worse now. There are six or seven political parties in Ireland (Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats, Labour, the Green Party, Sin Fein and a whole load of independent politicians) and they are all up in arms over all the time that's been wasted on the Taoiseach freaking out over this. It's great fun!
trickie_woo[info]trickie_woo on March 28th, 2009 05:15 am (UTC)
I'd be willing to help pay for a ticket for that teach to come over here and paint more than a few politicians. Stories about that would be a lot better than the constant news since the inauguration of administration nominees who haven't paid their taxes for years; big bonuses for AIG execs that the administration knew about beforehand; plans to make wounded vets pay for insurance to cover medical care for the wounds they received in defense of their country; and the congress and the president trying to ram European style socialism down our throats.

On my list of requested portraits would be Barney Frank, Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi plus others too numerous to mention. I'd have one stipulation, don't use the body that's on my favorite Playwitch portait of Snape as a model for any of the bodies; they should make it truer to the natuire of the politicians and use a body like Woody Allen's or Roseanne Barr's body of 20 years ago.
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on March 28th, 2009 10:58 am (UTC)
LOL. Well, the funny thing is, Brian Cowen already has the body of Roseanne Barr 20 years ago! :)
hogwarts_91: Duh[info]hogwarts_91 on April 3rd, 2009 04:18 pm (UTC)
What a boob! (See what I did there?) ;~)

Seriously, though? It would have been so easy to say something witty or clever (well, easy for most people), but nooooo. He turns a creative prank into a national scandal. LOL. I fail to see what he and his family found offensive in the RTE report. I hope RTE is having a good behind-the-scenes laugh over having to apologize, knowing it made him look even more buffoonish.

Wow. That's some leader ya got yourself there, Ireland.
little_beloved[info]little_beloved on April 3rd, 2009 04:43 pm (UTC)
Ah, yes. We sure do know how to pick 'em, eh? He is THAT bad. I've seen the pics, and you can actually join the Facebook Group: "Leave Conor Casby Alone" (the teacher). One of the pics was called 'BIFFO on the Bog', which I loved. BIFFO stands for Big Ignorant Fucker From Offaly. Gotta love it. :) Conor Casby for Taoiseach, I say!
( 16 comments — Leave a comment )