Gerard Mannix Flynn

Flynn's electoral posters in Dublin, February 2011

Gerard Mannix Flynn, sometimes written only as Mannix Flynn, is an Irish politician. He was born in Dublin in May 1957.[1][2] He was sent to St Joseph's Industrial School in Letterfrack aged eleven for eighteen months.[3][4] He was subjected to sexual and physical abuse there.[3] Later he spent time in the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin.[3][4] He also spent time in Marlborough House Detention Centre, Daingean, Co Offaly, St Patrick's Institution and was given 5 years at 15 years of age and sent to Mountjoy Prison. He has always claimed his innocence despite being convicted as guilty.[5]

His First novel Nothing to say was published in 1983.[4] His novels are now published in German, Italian, Polish and currently being translated into Chinese. He founded his arts company Farcry Productions in 2004 which produces visual art, performance and installation work around taboo issues such as child sexual abuse, violence and addiction.

In 2002 his semi-autobiographical play James X about a man suing the government and coming to terms with abuse he suffered in Irish state institutions was produced in the Temple Bar Music Centre. It won a fringe first award and later went on to win the Irish Times Theatre Awards - Best New Play category. In 2011 James X premiered in New York under the direction of Gabriel Byrne at the Culture Project.[5]

He is a member of Aosdána.[4] He is a serving member of Temple Bar Cultural Trust. He currently serves on the board of Dublin City Gallery (Hugh Lane),Dublin Town and is a commissioner of Irish Lights.

He appeared in the films Cal and When the Sky Falls, Excalibur and worked as an actor in Scotland, London, Austria and Dublin for 20 years.

He was an Independent candidate in the June 2009 local elections in Dublin,[4] and was elected as an independent councillor to Dublin City Council. He was re-elected in May 2014.[6]

He unsuccessfully contested the 2011 General Election in the Dublin South–East constituency.[7]

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse

Mannix Flynn criticised the Commission report for not investigating the role of the state and pointed out that none of the testimony to the Commission can be used for prosecutions.[8] He criticised the terms "survivor" and "victim" as well as the retelling of individual stories of what happened as "sentimentalism".[8] He says this assuages middle-class guilt when society at large remained indifferent to the violence of the institutions at the time they were run.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Gerard Mannix Flynn at Irish Writers Online, retrieved 24 May 2009
  2. ↑ Profile: Mannix Flynn, The Times, 9 February 2003, retrieved 7 July 2009
  3. 1 2 3 Mannix Flynn: To Hell in Connaught, Brighid McLaughlin, Sunday Independent, 22 December 2002, retrieved 24 May 2009
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Mannix Flynn to stand as an Independent in local elections, Paul Cullen, The Irish Times, 4 April 2009, retrieved 24 May 2009
  5. 1 2 The new, improved Mannix Flynn and the X factor
  6. ↑ Dublin City Council. "Local Election - 23 May 2014: Constituency of Pembroke-South Dock" (PDF). http://www.dublincity.ie/. Dublin City Council. pp. 1–11. Retrieved June 2, 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  7. ↑ ElectionsIreland.org. "General Election: 25 February 2011 Dublin South East". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 'We can't get on with our lives. It's just not that easy. . .', The Irish Times, 21 May 2009, retrieved 4 November 2009

External links

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