Irish Spring
Traveling down the
road to radical socialism
22March2001
At the heart of Fr. McDyer's autobiography is community and an effort to revitalize
the rural areas around Glencolmbkille. Unlike many who talk about the degradation
of rural ways of being, but do little to suggest ways out of the morass, Fr. McDyer's
work is a testament to not only his ability as an organizer and leader, but likewise
the spirit of these people towards self-determinism. His activities have provided
an example for the rest of the gaeltachts, and indeed for much of the rest of
the non-first world to escape the continued economic exploitation at the hands
of the industrialized nations.
In Cultural Conquest of Ireland, it is suggested that an archaic form of
communal agriculture existed, not unlike what Fr. McDyer proposed at every turn.
The sharing of resources and effort benefits the whole community and consequently
benefits the individual. This is best represented by the 'haystack day', where
the members of a community agree to do a days work without pay, and in turn they
can expect that when needed, they likewise will have recourse to the community's
support as such. In less archaic times it is seen in what James Joyce said of
hospitality in 'The Dead', that it is the most redeeming trait, which the Irish
possess, and the one most in need of vigorous preservation. Another example of
this is the meithal, which is a form of support provided by the community
members for a family when the breadwinner has become incapacitated, or for the
elderly when they are in similar situations of dependence on the good- will of
their neighbors. Community has a dark side as well, and this can be seen in the
power kin and clan can manifest when a community member attempts to introduce
change, as was seen during Fr. McDyer's efforts to introduce electricity to rural
Donegal.
If that were the only roadblock that Fr. McDyer's efforts were up against, he
would have found his work easy. Yet at many junctures it wasn't the community
that thwarted his plans, but intransigent bureaucracies, which hampered his work.
These governmental bodies, who are more comfortable with graft and bribery, found
that his attempts at organizing co-operative labor groups endangered their own
image currency, by showing their sloth like progress and lack of concern for the
'backward west'. This underlies the dangers of Ireland's entrance into the European
Union. Although the grants for improvements are much needed, what is needed more
is a firm dedication to preserving the unique character of the gaeltachts.
This should be accomplished not through subsidy and the dole, or the introduction
of industrial practices, but through work projects like Fr. McDyer's, which reinforce
the communal quality of life in the west and provide a sense of self-worth. The
double bind of the industrial model being used in the west is evident in the tendency
of the able-bodied to not take jobs because of fear they will lose their subsidy.
Instead of embracing a part-time or temporary job opportunity, it makes more sense,
economically speaking, to remain on the dole and its assured and permanent income.
This is a continuing example of the effects of colonization among the Irish. It
makes more sense to do nothing and accept the handouts of the economic masters
in Dublin, than it does to forge a vital and powerful co-operative association
in line with traditional practices of communal resource use. "The real antagonists
of co-operatives were always those who tried to monopolize and exploit for their
personal gain."(76) This was true at every turn of the conflict between Ireland
and England; there always seems to be someone in the community willing to sacrifice
those ties of kith and kin for transient monetary gain. It isn't difficult to
see the wisdom behind Fr. McDyer's critique of both capitalism and materialism;
the products of which, are increased alienation in the community, and a complicity
in the darker aspects of modern culture. "Multinational capitalism…is more production
and more consumption (which) does not necessarily generate the better life."(113)
In fact, quite the contrary, it creates an insatiable need for more, a dependency
on profit at the loss of honesty and efficiency, far worse though, all that wealth
has to be protected, lest it be taken away from those that accumulate it. Consequently,
we trade life for death and are accomplices in the slaughter and rape of the third
world for our sustenance. We are trapped into a need to have and to build better
guns to ensure our safety from the modern enemy within and without - the foreigners
who come seeking 'the good life', and threaten our own economic complacency.
Fr. McDyer gives us examples to reverse the slide down the slippery slope of economic
enslavement, cultural impoverishment, and social atrophy. His autobiography sets
out an example of right-livelihood, even if he is a priest on a different type
of 'dole', he follows in a long line of social activists intent on opening humanity's
eyes to their miserable state and their glorified potential. His actions to encourage
the people of Glencolumbkille are worthy of the highest praise, placing him in
the company of people like Martin Luther King, Ghandi, and Mother Jones. His work
can best be summed up with the statement, "no community should become dependent
on the good will of private enterprise "(73), and I am sure he would also add,
the vagaries of political patronage. "The ideal result (is) a united community
with the goal of communal economic independence…(who) carve out their own destiny."(73)
The poignant last lines of his autobiography suggest that he is amongst those
priests who maintain a long and continuous line of holy men cum filidh/drui.
Their purpose, not limited by sectarian religion, is to free Promethean humanity
from the chains of worldly power and divine avarice by goading us to action beyond
our high-minded, but generally inactive words. "Play not the music of things that
are said, but the music of things that are done."(116) Thus spake Fionn MacCumhall
to his harper, and so spake Fr. McDyer to his flock.