Mannix Flynn

Mannix Flynn (born Gerard Mannix Flynn, 4 May 1957) is an Irish independent politician who has served as a Dublin City Councillor since May 2009.[1][2]

Cllr

Gerard Mannix Flynn
Dublin City Councillor
Assumed office
24 May 2009
ConstituencySouth East Inner City
Personal details
Born
Gerard Mannix Flynn

(1957-05-04) 4 May 1957
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyIndependent
Websitemannixflynn.com

Aside from his work on the Dublin City Council, he is also a well known author and playwright, having written the novel Nothing To Say in 1983 and the play James X in 2002.

Early life

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] He also spent time in Marlborough House Detention Centre, Daingean, County Offaly, St Patrick's Institution and was given 5 years at 15 years of age and sent to Mountjoy Prison.

Career

Artist

His novels are published in German, Italian, Polish, and are 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 2004, James X performed by Flynn won the Irish Times Theatre Award. An earlier version of this play titled ' Talking to the Wall' had previously won the Edinburgh Fringe award.

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.

Politician

Flynn was first elected to Dublin City Council in the 2009 local elections as an independent candidate representing the South-East Inner City electoral area. He was re-elected to the revised Pembroke-South Dock electoral area in the 2014 local elections.

He tabled a motion to move the Temple Bar Cultural Trust [State company set up in 1991 as a regeneration agency for Temple Bar] under the direct control of Dublin City Council. The trust was subsequently found to be in breach of corporate governance and accountability in a number of public reports.[5][6]

He has expressed critical views of the way public money was spent as part of a Grafton Street regeneration project in Dublin.[7]

He supports tougher regulation around the amplification of busking on public streets, which led to his office being vandalised in February 2015.[8]

In 2015, he resigned from the Dublin City Council Arts SPC over what he perceived as a lack of cohesive overall policy, strategy, and vision.[9]

In 2016, he protested against the Artane Band, due to its association with the Artane Industrial School. The band responded saying it has had no association with the former industrial school. Flynn's peaceful protest, which included him protesting on a window sill in his Dublin City Council office, was criticised by some as "attention seeking" and a "publicity stunt full stop".[10][11]

He contested both the 2011, 2016 and 2020 general elections to Dáil Éireann unsuccessfully.

Land Without God

A documentary about the effects on Flynn and his family of clerical abuse was released in 2019, receiving special mention for the Dublin Human Rights Film Award at the Dublin International Film Festival.[12][13][14]

References
  1. Gerard Mannix Flynn Archived 17 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Irish Writers Online. Retrieved 24 May 2009
  2. Profile: Mannix Flynn, The Times, 9 February 2003. Retrieved 7 July 2009
  3. Mannix Flynn: To Hell in Connaught, Brighid McLaughlin, Sunday Independent, 22 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2009
  4. Mannix Flynn to stand as an Independent in local elections, Paul Cullen, The Irish Times, 4 April 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009
  5. "Analysis: Temple Bar Cultural Trust to have assets sold off". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  6. "Temple Bar trust suspends chief executive". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  7. Ryan, Philip. "Grafton Street refurb cost €400,000 before work began". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. Ryan, Orla. "Councillor's office vandalised with 'horrendous graffiti of a sexual nature'". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  9. "Why I resigned from Dublin City Council's Arts Committee | Village Magazine". www.villagemagazine.ie. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  10. McGreevy, Ronan. "Calls to disband Artane School of Music 'attention-seeking'". The Irish Times.
  11. Barry, Aoife. ""A publicity stunt full stop" - there isn't much love for Mannix Flynn's windowsill protest among his fellow councillors". TheJournal.ie.
  12. Brady, Tara. "Land Without God: A trip into the dark side of our Irish State". The Irish Times.
  13. "Land Without God - examining the legacy of Institutional abuse". 11 October 2019 – via www.rte.ie. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. https://www.diff.ie/festival/awards/iccl-human-rights-film-award
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