Culture for Sale

There are many places I wish to visit before my number is called. Buildings I want to see, the brushstrokes of paintings I need to experience. The majesty of the Sistine Chapel is something I feel that as a history enthusiast I need to experience. The Colosseum, which inspired so many movies, acts as a genesis for so many people’s fascination with the ancient world; the aqueducts, the ancient Roman roads still surviving to this very day. In one word, everything I have described here is culture.  

Culture is one of the best social binders we as people have. Culture is what society can cling to in times of hardship, times where our ways of living seem to be slipping through our fingers like sand. All this history and culture is at risk of being sold in the name of economic ‘prosperity’.  

Would the Colosseum have the same impact as a portal to an ancient time if there was a McDonald’s inside it? Would you feel that same awe I imagine you would feel looking up at the Sistine chapel if, from the corner of your eye, you saw a Starbucks?  

Ireland may not have a Colosseum; however, we have the Book of Kells, the GPO, Newgrange and the Cliffs of Moher. The culture and history of our island is one of struggle and survival from both tyrannical pressures and natural blights. During the 1916 Easter Rising, volunteers took strategic positions across the capital: the GPO, The Four Courts, and Boland Mills for example. The Rising was ultimately quashed, and the leaders were executed. These deaths sparked a fire within the public for whom the prospect of Home Rule seemed far more attractive. This declaration saw the demand of total independence from their colonial rulers. This motif will be ever present throughout Irish history. 

With the Irish government trying to become a larger European player in an economic sense, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) has been the centre for most decisions made. We need only look at the bending over backwards that successive governments have done to accommodate large companies like Apple for example. With a low corporate tax system, these companies can boast the spending power of some small countries, even rivalling larger ones on top of that. Our historic docklands have been snatched up by large MNCs which has been reported countless times. For example, an article written by Colin Gleeson for the Irish Independent in 2018 reported that Google was to invest nearly €300,000,000 in ‘redeveloping’ the Boland Mills’ area of the docklands in Dublin. 

All this has been allowed with the understanding that these companies contribute to Ireland’s identity as an attractive place to do business, which is important no doubt, but we should be very careful to what lengths we will go to for this economic status. Google, through their purchasing power has bought Boland Mills. They are in possession of a piece of Irish culture and heritage. A place where the modern Ireland was born. Instead of it being in possession of the people, it is in the hands of a private company who finds ways to pay as little tax as possible. We must remember these companies will never contribute enough to literally own pieces of our history. Our identity and our heritage are vulnerable of being wiped out. How much would you sell your identity for? What have we left as a society if these unique historical sites are sold off?  

Google will have that space become an engineering hub with over 1,000 engineers moving into it when opened. Our culture and heritage cannot be bought and sold like a mere commodity. The fact that there will be a ‘public’ space offers very little in terms of recognition for the space and its history. The problem is that the space will not be public, it will simply be leased out for people to walk around in it while of course spending money at these eateries.  

I fear what is up at auction next. What piece of our culture, identity and namely what makes ‘us’ indeed ‘us’? Will we sell off the Áras for a shopping centre to take its place? Perhaps Stephen’s Green will become a car park to tackle the issue of traffic in the city centre. Why would we sell parts of our history instead of celebrating it? We should be looking at the writings of the 1916 leaders to address these inequalities. The very behaviours of these soulless MNCs over the last number of years has culminated in me becoming increasingly anxious that we will forget who we are, our culture and our identity. It simply is not worth losing our collective sense of self over.