History is repeating itself in Dublin’s City Hall.
In 2017, a proposal to award the freedom of the capital to former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle faced some opposition before being approved by 30 to 23 votes.
It had been proposed by then lord mayor Brendan Carr, of Labour, who cited the Democrat’s Irish roots and support for peace in Northern Ireland, shortly after Obama was succeeded by Donald Trump.
While he did not wish to “canonise the Obamas” or declare his presidency “a success”, Carr said Obama was a “stabilising and moderating” influence on US foreign policy.
“A similar era, unfortunately, will not be experienced again for some time,” he said.
Eight years on, Trump is having a destabilising start to his second term, and debate about awarding the Obamas the freedom of the city has resumed.
Dublin’s Lord Mayor Ray McAdam, of Fine Gael, has written to the couple suggesting they accept the award in late September when visiting the city for a sold-out event at the 3Arena, An Evening with President Barack Obama, In Conversation with Fintan O’Toole.
People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy urged McAdam to withdraw the invite. “Obama is just as complicit in the [Gaza] genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as his successors – Biden and Trump,” he said. “For this reason alone, he should receive no welcome in Ireland.”
Reddy and his colleague Hazel De Nortúin say they will bring an “emergency motion” to September’s council meeting calling for the award to be revoked should McAdam opt to proceed.
Druid seeks new chief executive as it plans for next 50 years
Are you an energetic and results driven self-starter who can balance creative risk with sound financial management?
Really? Well, there’s a job going that might work for you.
Druid Theatre Company is seeking a chief executive to succeed Anneliese Davidsen, who is stepping down as executive director this autumn and switching Galway for London after less than two years.
In that time, Druid said, Davidsen delivered “record-breaking national tours” of Sean O’Casey’s The Shadow of a Gunman and Three Short Comedies; and won five-star ratings for productions of The House by Tom Murphy, Macbeth, and Samuel Beckett’s Endgame.
“She leaves the company in great shape as it celebrates its 50th anniversary,” said Adrian O’Neill, chairman of the Druid board.
A post on the company’s website says the new chief executive “will join Druid at a time of great success” and when planning is under way for its “2026 programme and the next 50 years”.
A separate job advert says responsibilities will include cultivating a culture of “excellence in every aspect of the organisation” and ensuring Druid’s purpose is “inspiring, ambitious and clear”.
Sensibly enough, a background and interest in the performing arts and “a good understanding of, and empathy for, Druid and its vision” are desirable. A passion for and knowledge of the arts scene in Galway, and nationally, is preferable.
A fixed five-year term contract and “a competitive salary reflecting the significance of the position” are on offer.
Good luck to the candidates, or should that be break a leg?
Kevin ‘General Custer’ Moran faces exhausting trip to Kerry
As someone based near the river Shannon, Minister of State for the Office of Public Works Kevin “Boxer” Moran knows his onions when it comes to flooding.
In early 2020 he posted a video of himself topless in a pair of waders in Athlone helping to connect a pump in an attempt to combat rising waters in Athlone.
“That’s it – job done. I’m drowned f***ing wet though,” he says. “I nearly got sick with the smell of it ... There’s one sure thing, she won’t kiss me tonight anyway.”
Kerry Fianna Fáil TD Michael Cahill was hoping for a sympathetic ear before the Dáil recess when he asked Moran if he would provide funding to tackle erosion and flooding in 10 places including his own “neck of the woods”, Rossbeigh, where there “are huge problems”.
Moran said the Government had committed €81 million for flood relief schemes in Kerry, naming several places, but Rossbeigh was not among them.
“Other areas in Kerry also need coastal protection works, for example, Waterville and my local beach in Rossbeigh,” Cahill pointedly replied.
Moran again omitted mention of Rossbeigh in his next response, but he empathised and promised to visit Kerry, including the areas mentioned by Cahill.
“For many of the people affected, the Minister of State is General Custer making his last stand,” Cahill said.
Leas-Cheann Comhairle John McGuinness said he feared that by the time the Minister of State “finished that tour of Kerry” he might too “exhausted” to make it to his own constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny.
“I will ask my line manager if he will organise a helicopter because I have had so many requests today that I will be flying,” Moran replied.
Chatbot laps up Ganley’s alternative to solar power
Businessman Declan Ganley, who has reportedly sounded out Oireachtas members about supporting a presidential run, is no stranger to a campaign.
He opposed the Lisbon Treaty in 2008, an effort that succeeded for a while; came close to winning a European Parliament seat in 2009 under the Libertas banner; and spoke out against repealing the Eighth Amendment in 2018.
More recently, he has railed against plans for a huge solar project near his Co Galway home. Power Capital Renewable Energy, a French-backed Irish firm, is preparing plans for what would be Ireland’s largest solar farm/battery storage facility over hundreds of acres between Abbeyknockmoy and Monivea.
Local opponents argue it would threaten local food production, biodiversity and rural heritage and Ganley has been using his X social media account to publicise his concerns about “Absentee SolarLords” burying part of the parish under “a desert of black glass”.
“The mobilisation of local resistance is unlike anything I have seen in my 30 years in this village,” he wrote.
Ever the entrepreneur, Ganley then started a conversation with Grok, X’s AI chatbot, about a patent for a tidal power system that has been “sitting in my drawer of inventions since 2007”.
“Impressive patent, Declan,” Grok said.
“I was going to build a prototype but had too much else going on,” Ganley replied.
“Understandable – life gets busy…,” Grok added.
The lengthy back and forth ended with Grok writing a letter to “The Irish Government” saying Ganley’s tidal patent would be “superior to solar in reliability, impact, and long-term value”.
If only convincing a planning authority, or an electorate, were so easy.
