Don't mention the M3:
hypocritical parading of Irish Heritage
By - Frank McDonald.
Those campaigning to protect the landscape of Tara from
bisection by the proposed M3 motorway will be bemused to
learn that the Irish pavilion at Expo 2005 in Japan
features an image of the ancient seat of Ireland's high
kings.
Not only that. The pavilion even has a centrally
positioned harp motif on its slatted metal facade. "The
harp that once thro' Tara's Hall the soul of music shed/
Now hangs as mute on Tara's wall as if that soul were
fled", as the old song goes.
The hypocrisy at the heart of the pavilion will be lost
on most visitors to the Expo. They won't know that this
parading of Ireland's heritage is promoted by a
Government bent on sacrificing that heritage whenever it
gets in the way of "progress".
A widely reported, the pavilion's centrepiece is a set of
replica Irish high crosses, cast in plaster in the late
19th century. Once located in the rotunda of the National
Museum, they are now displayed in another rotunda under a
projection of changing Irish skies.
According to the brochure, available in English and
Japanese, the pavilion "illustrates how the ancient
traditions that produced the High Crosses of Ireland have
continued through the ages and remains [sic] at the heart
of the Irish cultural identity".
It goes on to say that the pavilion celebrates "the Art
of Life" reflecting the rich heritage of Ireland's Celtic
art and the culture from prehistoric times to the present
day it also features well-displayed replicas of the Tara
brooch, the Book of Kells and other treasures.
Designed by Dublin-based Martello Multimedia, the
exhibition includes a special mention of Lafcadio Hearn
(1850-1904), son of an Anglo-Irish surgeon and a Greek
woman, who grew up in Dublin and spent his last 15 years
in Japan, immersing himself in its culture and
interpreting it to the west.
Contemporary Ireland is represented by such icons as the
Spire of Dublin, the Luas bridge in Dundrum, pictures of
well-known figures such as Bono and even a sheep farmer
tending his flock under wind turbines. Needless to say,
there isn't a mention of the M3.
One of the most inspired ideas was to project moving
images of Ireland's varied landscapes on the ceiling,
angled at 45 degrees. Visitors watch it in groups of 12
from comfortable chairs tilted at the same angle and, for
some it has becomes an unofficial snooze zone.
Shamrock Chan (Sean), the pavilion's mascot, has also
proved very popular, according to its director, Colm
Sharkey, the son of a former Irish ambassador to Japan.
Unfortunately, it was not mass-produced and, in any case,
the pavilion has no shop to sell anything.
At weekends, the Irish pavilion attracts between 6,000
and 7.000 visitors. It is under the wing of the
Department of the Taoiseach, headed by a man who - so
far, at least - has remained deaf to the growing chorus
of opposition to the route chosen for the M3.
That chorus now includes more than 300 academics and
scholars from Ireland and abroad who have appealed for a
rethink.
"If the motorway is constructed as currently planned,
what does that say to the world about the cultural
sensitivity of the Government?", they asked.
Certainly, what's being said to the world by Ireland's
pavilion at Expo 2005 is little more that a big lie.
© The Irish Times, 30th. April 2005.
