Nude Pictures Of Irish Prime Minister Lead To Censorship

When pranksters installed nude artworks of Prime Minister Brian Cowen at the National Gallery, some considered it funny, including Irish National Broadcaster RTE.

The government did not consider it quite so funny and pressured RTE to apologize for a light-hearted story on the incident. That has created a political ruckus in itself with charges of censorship.

The incident started as political satire when Dublin high school teacher Conor Casby installed the two paintings of Cowen in an act of guerrilla art. Both pictures have Cowen in the nude, one with a roll of toilet paper in his hand and the other with Cowen holding his underwear.

Casby is being investigated by Irish police for public indecency, incitement to hatred and criminal damage. In the meantime, Casby’s house was searched and nude paintings of other public figures confiscated.

The criminal damage charge is for driving a nail into the wall of the National Gallery, but public indecency and incitement to hatred?

Charlie Flanagan, justice spokesman for the opposition Fine Gael Party put the government crackdown on the incident into a disturbing perspective.

“At a time when the majority of gangland murders remain unsolved, to have (police) spending their time investigating what amounted to a practical joke that offended the taoiseach’s ego is a scandalous waste of resources.”

Taoiseach is the Gaelic term for Cowen’s position.

After the government criticized RTE’s story, RTE issued an apology “for any personal offence…and for any disrespect shown” to Cowen. Then RTE further embarassed itself by stating that it was not caving into to government pressure.

Flanagan had more to say about the matter. He said RTE had been “browbeaten into a groveling apology. The way this matter has been handled is more reminiscent of Russia in the 1930s than Ireland in 2009.”

That’s just about right, especially when considering that government officials crushed the matter when a lawmaker tried to bring it up in Parliament. Parliament Speaker John O’Donoghue cutoff opposition lawmaker Liz McManus when she said, “We had a situation where the national broadcaster had to grovel–.” At that point, McManus was interrupted.

As O’Donoghue demanded another question, McManus continued to cry out, “The public interest will not be served by a national broadcaster bowing to political pressure … Political satire is part and parcel of our democracy!”

Ireland 2009? What a disappointment. I don’t feel so bad now that Cowen had that embarrassing moment at the White House when he was accidentally read Obama’s speech instead of his own. It does explain how Cowen could read Obama’s speech for 20 seconds before figuring it out. He is apparently clueless about free speech.

The public indecency over this matter was not the hanging of the portraits, but the government’s inability to let the public ridicule it. Shame on Cowen and his government.