Kildare Street, Dublin, April 26th, 2060
The last surviving veterans of Ireland's "War Agin' de Pensions" gathered outside Leinster House today for a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the conflict. The dwindling band of ageing former TDs and Senators were joined by members of the current Dáil and Seanad, paying tribute to those who gave their money for Ireland in April 2010, during what became known as "Sometime-after-Easter Week".
President Brian O’Driscoll laid a wreath at the Leinster House gates: the scene where, half a century earlier, many Oireachtas members had their pension entitlements tragically ambushed. He read a short extract from Yeats: “They weighed so lightly what they gave/But let them be, they’re dead and gone/They’re with O’Leary in the grave”. After which he joined the rest of those present in a minute’s silence for all the back balances that fell in the conflict.
Taoiseach Jay Byrne could not attend the ceremony, having flown to Brussels this morning for emergency talks with other European leaders about the crisis in Greece, where street protests in support of home rule from Germany are escalating. But he was represented by his brother Rocco, Minister for Finance, who recalled that their grandfather Bertie Ahern had made the ultimate sacrifice – €83,000 a year – close to the spot where he was standing.
“I was only a toddler at the time, so I don’t remember it very well. But my grand-uncle Noel used to tell that when they heard the news in Drumcondra, people knelt down in the street outside Fagans and said the Rosary. It was a very emotional moment for that generation.” Survivors of the period recalled the reign of terror inflicted by the hated “Black-and-Tans” (the name given to political journalists of the time, from the combination of printer’s ink on their fingers and the evidence of their many foreign junkets), whose “flying columns” fired indiscriminately on anyone thought to be in receipt of a double income, however small.
Labour leader and Tánaiste Jimmy Rabbitte Jnr cited the case of a former TD from his party, Emmet Stagg, who had been forced to give up his paltry €56 a week. This was a case of “change, change utterly”, said Mr Rabbitte. “But through its loss, a terrible beauty was born.” By contrast, the oldest surviving veteran of the era, Jim McDaid (100), spoke of the guilt he still feels at not forfeiting his pension: “It was my sincere belief then that the fiscal force tradition was misguided and that for politicians to give up their public emoluments under media pressure was bad for democracy. But I was haunted for years afterwards by images of Bertie, and Máire, and all the others who laid their pensions down for Ireland. Maybe I should have done the same.”
From Leinster House, participants paraded to the old GPO – now the Abbey Theatre – where commemorations took a more festive turn.
Here, speakers recalled the ultimate success of the struggle: with many TDs returning in triumph to the pension scheme after the 2012 general election, through the famous tactic of losing their seats – the so-called “put them out to get them in” strategy. They also remembered how the savings gifted to the exchequer had paved the way for Ireland’s gradual recovery, culminating in the double-digit growth of the 2040s.
From a bandstand opposite the GPO, popular Wolfe Tones tribute band, the Tone Deafs, performed ballads including “Superannuation Once Again” and “The Earnin’ of the Green”.
The upbeat atmosphere was added to by an unscheduled appearance from stage veterans Jedward, taking a break from rehearsals at the Abbey where they open next week in Neil Simon's classic comedy about a pair of ageing Broadway performers: The Sunshine Boys. The 69-year-old twins performed some of their famous old dance routines and signed autographs on items of underwear which were sporadically thrown at them by fans.
Nearby, politicians also laid a wreath at the newly-built Máire Geoghegan-Quinn Pillar, which replaced the Millennium Spire: cut down two years ago by hacksaw-wielding militants protesting at the 50th anniversary of the Government bank guarantee.
The official commemorations concluded, meanwhile, with a short multi-denominational prayer service and the firing of feu de joieby Army artillery from the roof of the GPO.
After the ceremonies, at an impromptu press conference, the Minister for Finance denied any similarities between Ireland’s latest boom and the one that led to the “Crash of 2008”.
Last week's sale of a house in Dalkey for a record €1.5 squillion has led some commentators to suggest that the Irish property market is overheating. But Mr Byrne said it was a sign of continuing consumer confidence. "The fundamentals are sound," he added, "so even if there was a sudden global downturn, we can expect the economy to have a soft land. . ." His press conference was dramatically interrupted at this point when a flock of geese, apparently hit by the feu de joiemoments earlier, crashed through the roof of the bandstand in a hail of blood and feathers. The Minister and other dignitaries were immediately bundled into waiting cars and driven away. A Government spokesman later played down suggestions that the incident was a bad omen.
fmcnally@irishtimes.com