There are times when language

There are times when language itself seems inadequate to the reality with which we are confronted. Over the past months, we have seen the most astonishing sequence of events unfold in Dáil Éireann. In political terms, the carnage is virtually unprecedented. A government has fallen. The Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, has been forced to resign. Likewise the President of the High Court, Harry Whelehan, in office but a matter of days. And, as the terms of a Dáil Inquiry into the bizarre chain of events leading to the high-profile resignations are being set, there lurks the distinct possibility that still further Fianna Fáil ministerial heads may roll.

Not that they’ll be Ministers much longer either way. At the time of writing, Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left are inching ever-closer towards a deal that would give the country a new three-party Coalition government. There are, of course, no guarantees and nothing will be agreed until everything is agreed: that is the nature of coalition negotiations. But the probability is that the three parties will give one another – and let’s face it everyone else as well – the Christmas bonus of avoiding a general election, for now at least.

In the light of the fantastic disarray into which Fianna Fáil sank in the final hours of their doomed attempt to hold onto office, it would be hard to sell the notion that the Fianna Fáil–Labour coalition had provided a ‘good government’. The sheer incompetence of the Fianna Fáil ministers’ attempts to extricate themselves individually and collectively from the all-consuming mire surrounding the Fr Brendan Smyth affair, and Albert Reynolds’ monumentally ill-advised decision to appoint Harry Whelehan as President of the High Court, was positively breathtaking to behold. It went further than that however. So desperate were they to convince the electorate that there had been no cover-up and no conspiracy and no deception – and we won’t go into the gory details again here – that they positively begged people to believe that they were merely stupid, that they were indeed fools rather than knaves. And even the most cynical would have to concede: of some of them this was probably true.

The irony is that history will almost certainly judge that, within acceptable conventional terms of reference, the Fianna Fáil–Labour coalition did reasonably well in certain areas, and very well in others. The outstanding achievement was, clearly, contributing in such a positive way to the cessation of violence in the North. Anyone who believes that this is a fait accompli now, from which there is no turning back for the IRA – and equally for Loyalist paramilitaries – has no understanding of the dynamic in the North, and especially within the Republican movement, which led to the historic decision to forswear the use of violence, temporarily at least. In any new Rainbow alliance then, it is imperative that Dick Spring, who played a critical part in encouraging the ceasefire, alongside Albert Reynolds, should be given the central role in developing Northern policy, ensuring continuity in this most sensitive and fragile of areas. It would help enormously in this regard also if Michael D. Higgins were to retain the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht portfolio. In a cabinet led by John Bruton, and with members of Democratic Left on board, which might be seen by Republicans as having a distinctly ‘two nations’ bias, the presence of the Minister who was responsible for the decision not to renew Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act at a crucial psychological moment could provide a vital reassurance.

The North is just one area where the outgoing government “performed”. A significant body of legislation passed through Leinster House in the two years Fianna Fáil and Labour were in office, much of it positive. But beyond the question of legislation, there was a feeling that the government had in certain areas, for the first time, been genuinely policy driven. Nowhere was this more evident to those who know than in the area of Arts and Culture, which is what makes any hint that this Ministry might be either downgraded or abandoned in a Rainbow coalition genuinely disquieting. My own associations with Michael D. Higgins, and the fact that he wrote a column for Hot Press over a period of ten years are well known. He was also the Minister who appointed me as Chairperson of the IRTC. It would be stupid as well as futile, therefore, for me to attempt to gloss over that background. However, I know that I would be making precisely the same observations if those associations didn’t exist, purely on Michael D. Higgins’ record in office. His success in relation to film has been spectacular, with the re-establishment of the Irish Film Board and the creation of the kind of financial incentives necessary to attract a wide range of international productions into Ireland to film. A task force on the Music Industry is ready to begin its work, with the objective of achieving the same kind of breakthrough. A broadcasting Green Paper has been prepared and is ready for publication. I could go on – but what’s important is to emphasise that the thrust of Arts policy has been to foster the conditions in which artists can not only operate more confidently on a creative level but where the potential of their work and that of the cultural industries in general to generate and sustain jobs and to produce wealth can be fully realised. Employment in this area has always tended – wrongly I believe – to be seen as marginal by socialists. To regress to this view would be an act of complete folly at a time of incredible cross-fertilisation and change in the global cultural industries. Music, film, video, broadcasting, publishing, computer entertainment, copyright – all of these areas are converging in the context of the profound changes taking place in our technological environment, and the increasing proliferation of multi-media options. It is a time rich with opportunities but if we are to fully realise them – and the vast dividends which they can yield in terms of wealth and employment here – then it is vital that we build on the base that has been created over the past two years and respond quickly, coherently and imaginatively to the new challenges and possibilities.

The complex role of the arts in the life of any people hardly needs rehashing here. What can be said is that under the regime put in place by Michael D. Higgins, the community arts flourished in Ireland as never before. At this level, a process of empowerment is being encouraged, which is absolutely essential to counter-balance the increasingly confused and confusing barrage of information, images, sounds, ideologies and inducements being hurled at us from just about everywhere. If we proceed in fear, then we will inevitably be shunted into the role of consumers by forces greater than any we can muster on our own. This game is being played at once on the biggest and most daunting of world stages and at the most local and personal of levels – and we’ve got to be able to respond on both.

In his role as Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Michael D. Higgins has been described by the Minister for Finance, Bertie Ahern, as a great ‘friend of the Arts’. This is true in that he is the one politician in Leinster House who has consistently reflected a love of literature, film, music and the visual arts. But it also minimises something much more far-reaching. Only in the last few years have people in government, in the civil service and in the Department of Finance in particular begun to appreciate that support of, and investment in, the Arts should be a central feature of our industrial, training and job-creation strategies. This battle was hard-fought. And now that Arts and Culture are on the agenda, the door is open for Ireland to become a major European and world player in an industry worth hundreds of billions annually.

I know that it reflects the feelings of virtually everyone in the music, film and arts areas when I say that our current position of strength, and the feeling of optimism that goes with it, is a result of the work of Michael D. Higgins and his department. It would be a shame to blow all that now.

• Niall Stokes

Editor