“SHE’ S TOO
EXTREME FOR THE BISHOP OF
THE LIT. & DEB. DIVORCE FORUM
Derek Davis does not usually contribute
much to the running of Lit & Deb. but, were it not for him the Divorce
Forum would never have left the ground. If Brian Hughes had not ingeniously
taken down the name of all those who spoke on the “
Despite the fact that they were running the campaign for a Yes vote, the response from some of the Pro-Divorce groups was not so much slow as non-existent. Letters did, however, flow in. Within in a week, we had one definite and one probable for the Anti side. Dr. Seamus Grimes of our own Dept. of Geography gave a verbal confirmation that he would come. Then came our first big coup. Nora Bennis (A full-time housewife and mother, who also employs a full-time secretary) of Solidarity said she would come if she knew who the Pro speakers were. This proviso was a sign of things to come. The responses from political figures were all swift, if all negative. Michael D. Higgins, not yet, Alan Shatter, no, Mervyn Taylor, no. David Norris said no because he was looking after his sick 93 year-old aunt. (He later said on Questions & Answers he was available for all public occasions, prompting us to ponder whether a letter of condolence on his recent loss or of congratulation on his medical skill was more appropriate). By the end of the holidays, the Anti side was complete when David Quinn of the Sunday Business Post confirmed he would also speak. All we needed were Pro-Divorce speakers and we were set.
To misquote Burns, The best-laid plans of
debate convenors do aft gang astray. By the middle of October, things had taken
more than one bizarre twist. We still had no definite Pro speakers and media at
home were not particularly interested. Thus, it came as a surprise when a
Barbara Mueller of Swiss TV rung us to say that they wanted to cover the event.
When a person from ZDF, the German equivalent of RTE, also
saying they would cover the event, the irony was over-whelming. German
& Swiss people would see the Forum, yet the Irish voter would be denied any
coverage of the night. Our main concern was still the lack of Pro speakers and
where we get them. The response from the Pro-Divorce Campaign in
The Tuesday before the Forum things started
to go off the rails. It came to our knowledge that David Quinn had been
withdrawn from the Forum by the Anti side because he had not made up his mind
on which way he would vote (Despite the many rumours put out at the time, this
would appear to be the truth). He was replaced by Benedict O’Floinn,
someone we had never heard of but, we were assured, he was a quality speaker.
RTE Galway whilst wanting to come themselves, informed
us that RTE Head Office had said it was outside their brief and to top it all
Michael D. had not officially confirmed. This was causing the greatest concern
has he, along with Nora Bennis, had been billed as
the “star” attraction. After many calls to the Ministry, I was told he was
coming, only to receive a message at
Never assume anything. I entered the Kirwan at 6.45, forty-five minutes before kick-off and was surprised to find a few rows of seats already occupied. At 7o’clock, the theatre was half full. I was not paying too much attention to the crowd as I set up the podium so, it came as a shock to me when I next looked up at 7.15, to find every seat bar those reserved taken and both aisles totally impassable. Eventually, I got everyone I could seated and went outside to find the speakers and for a general look around. It is a sight I will never forget. People in queues four deep from the doors of the Kirwan to the doors of the Concourse and further still At this stage three people (Brian Hughes, Mary Cosgrove and I) were trying to deal with about four hundred others who all wanted to get in. We got as many people as we could into the theatre. Many of them may not have been comfortable but, they wonderful contributions from all the speakers. Nora Bennis gave a sincere and articulate speech (despite the fact Matt the porter almost didn’t let her in because he didn’t know who she was) and from Michael D. came a speech which earned him more one ovation from the audience which was intelligent and unafraid to get its point across. The motion “That this house would say yes to Divorce” was passed by about three to one. We then headed to the Skeff where people of all the opinions expressed joined in celebrating a magnificent and significant event in the history of the Lit.& Deb.
Finally, a few thank yous.
To all the Lit & Deb. committee for bailing us out whenever we needed it.
To Law Soc. for their help on the night, to Siobhan FitzMahony
for her help in getting the Pro-Divorce speakers, to the Skeff
for just being there. To the six speakers who gave of their time to come to
David
Finn